Susilo faces uphill road to deliver his promises

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will face a long and difficult road in delivering on economic and security campaign promises, analysts said.

Ikrar Nusa Bakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said on Wednesday Susilo's government would face increased pressure because people would no longer tolerate empty promises and rhetoric.

"They only want to see the new government deliver on its promises. They want the government to provide affordable education and job opportunities, and to ensure they can walk safely down streets free from fear of terror attacks.

"The major challenge for the new government is that people do not care about the difficulties the administration will be facing. They simply want the new President to bring changes," he said.

In a speech at the State Palace, Susilo renewed his promise to lead the country's fight against corruption, to create jobs, to take firm action against terrorists and to improve the business climate.

The first challenge for Susilo is to unite the political powers supporting his government, which have been jousting with each other over Cabinet posts, Ikrar said.

"The new government must convince people that it is strong enough to deliver on its promises. On the other hand, the government needs support from the House of Representatives to implement its policies," Ikrar said.

People, too, still doubt Susilo's ability to fulfill his pledge to build a clean government with a Cabinet lineup that might fail to impress the public, he said.

"Despite some new faces, I would say his Cabinet is a recycled one. Some of them do not have impressive records and people remember that," he said.

Ikrar said it remained to be seen whether Susilo's pledge to eradicate corruption was not mere rhetoric.

"Susilo needs to prove that he is brave enough to prosecute those who supported him financially in the election if they are implicated in high-profile corruption cases," he said.

Another delicate issue for Susilo is terrorism. The new President must introduce comprehensive antiterrorism policies without "sacrificing" the support of Muslim hard-liners, Ikrar said.

Susilo is backed by a coalition of parties that includes Muslim hard-liners the Crescent Star Party and the Prosperous Justice Party.

"It is a big task for Susilo to address both his antiterrorism drive, which is fully supported by Western countries, and the interests of all his supporters," he said.

Separately, political communications expert Effendy Ghazali of the University of Indonesia said Susilo's speech on Wednesday showed that he understood the high expectations surrounding his administration.

"He knows it. Therefore, despite his repeated promises, he told people not to expect too much from him. Let's see how he will meet his promises," he said.

Effendy said the people, who have long demanded change, would keep the pressure on the new government to honor its promises.

"The new government cannot fall back on the excuse that the difficulties it is facing are a legacy of the previous government. People will not buy that and they will punish him (Susilo) over the next five years," he said.