Susilo faces uphill road to deliver his promises

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.