SBY lucky that people don't keep list
SBY lucky that people don't keep list
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Gobble ... gobble ... gobble ... is the onomatopoeic phrase often
used in cartoon stories whenever characters eat their food in a
hurry. It is also the sound a turkey makes.
The word, for some reason, often came to mind when watching
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or his Cabinet trying to
explain their failures to deliver on election promises they had
made.
State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
initially said the Cabinet would complete 66 programs in the 100-
day period. Three months later she said not all of these programs
had materialized because the government had to be prudent when it
made policies (gobble ... gobble ... gobble...).
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said after the
ministers' inauguration that Cabinet members would submit their
wealth reports to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
within a fortnight. Two months passed. Andi said: "We were too
ambitious at that time" (gobble...gobble...gobble...).
The President said he supported the immediate establishment of
an independent team to probe the alleged poisoning of human
rights activist Munir. A month went before Cabinet Secretary Sudi
Silalahi said it would only be established if it was "needed"
(gobble ... gobble ... gobble...).
As a four-star general who served as a coordinating minister
of security affairs in two cabinets, Susilo should have known
better what promises he could fulfill and what he couldn't.
His experience serving as minister should have taught him the
basic lessons of big government -- that it is not easy to sway
the bureaucracy; and there are always good excuses for
subordinates not to fully carry out directives, not least
personal political interests.
The time of big promises (the election campaign period) is
over. It's time for "Dr Yudhoyono", as spokesman Andi likes to
refer him, to translate pledges into actions.
One "novel" idea could be just to actually initiate something
successfully without boasting about it beforehand.
Lucky for Susilo, most Indonesians do not keep a checklist of
promises made. But maybe winning the presidency is all about wide
smiles, big hugs, and kissing children -- all captured on TV, of
course.
A program aired by CNN noted one important angle in President
George W. Bush's success in retaining office, compared to his
father.
In his re-election campaign, the senior Bush had said he would
not raise taxes, the same promise he made during his first term
and did not keep. Bush's opponent, Bill Clinton, during the 1992
debates attacked on that point and won the presidency.
That is a moral that Susilo must carefully consider -- stop
making promises that he cannot keep, because if you do not say it
then people will not ask.