Susilo fails to register significant progress

Susilo fails to register significant progress

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Against a background of perhaps excessively high public
expectations of sweeping change, the administration of President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been criticized by some analysts for
failing to bring about significant progress in its first three
months.

Political analyst Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute
of Sciences (LIPI) said that thus far the Susilo administration
had instituted only minuscule changes and had failed to give any
indication that it would do better in the future.

Syamsuddin said that in the fight against corruption, which
Susilo said he would personally lead and which would be the
cornerstone of his administration, his performance could be
considered poor as there had been nothing to date to indicate
that high profile corruptors would be brought to justice soon.

"Abdullah Puteh has been finally brought before the court, but
the process has been proceeding at a snail's pace. This was the
style of the previous administration," Syamsuddin said, referring
to the trial of the suspended Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governor,
who has been implicated in a corruption case involving a
procurement project.

To make matters worst for Susilo, according to Syamsuddin, his
tacit rivalry with Vice President Jusuf Kalla was slowing down
the decision-making process in his administration and, in turn,
obstructing immediate progress.

"Both Susilo and Kalla spend much of their energies in
concealing the fact that they are rivals, especially after Kalla
was elected Golkar Party leader last December," Syamsuddin said.

He predicted that the discord would likely persist and could
become the defining feature of the Susilo administration.

The Susilo-Kalla government will be three months old on
Friday. The country's first ever directly-elected President
pledged that he would make significant progress during what he
termed the "100-day breakthrough" period, with the anticorruption
drive topping his agenda.

Given the lackluster performance of former president Megawati
Soekarnoputri in the political and economic fields, expectations
were high that Susilo would bring about sweeping changes due to
the strong mandate he was given by the electorate.

Economist Didik J. Rachbini concurred with Syamsuddin, saying
that there had been no coordinated efforts by the members of
Susilo's Cabinet to tackle the myriad of problems afflicting the
country's economy.

"The members of Susilo's economic team in the Cabinet seemed
to be at a loss over what they would do in the first three
months. They have no blueprint whatsoever. The ministers just go
with the flow," Didik told a discussion organized by an alliance
of youth organizations here.

He added that the Susilo administration had also not yet
succeeded in reviving the country's fragile economy.

"During the campaign, Susilo emphasized that his
administration would tackle rampant corruption, reform the
bureaucracy, improve the public service and stimulate the
country's economy. However, after three months there has been no
substantial progress," he claimed.

Despite the administration's poor record, it deserved credit
for supporting press freedom, said Bambang Harymurti, chief
editor of Tempo weekly.

"Susilo's inclination to avail of the right to reply and his
repeated statements about resorting to the Press Council in the
case of disputes with the media must be applauded, especially
considering that the previous administration tended to use the
criminal law against journalists," Bambang said.