Susilo to be judged by his deeds, not words
Susilo to be judged by his deeds, not words
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to take
office on Wednesday and before long he will have to start working
and fulfilling the promises he and running-mate Jusuf Kalla made
to the electorate during the election campaign.
Hopes are high that Susilo and Kalla will be able to deliver
palpable improvements to the country's economy, which has still
not fully recovered from the crisis that began to assail it in
1997.
Although the administration of the outgoing president,
Megawati Soekarnoputri, can be credited with bringing about
economic and political stability, what appears on the surface
belies the actual reality. Job creation and corruption
eradication, among other issues, remain the administration's weak
spots.
Little wonder that in the campaign for the July 5 election,
the Susilo-Kalla ticket pledged that creating more jobs and
combating corruption would top their agenda.
They vowed to boost economic growth to 7.6 percent by the time
their term had ended in 2009 from 4.1 percent in 2003 and to cut
open unemployment in half to 5.1 percent in 2009 from 10.1
percent last year.
Susilo and Kalla also promised to reduce the poverty rate from
17.4 percent in 2003 to around 8.2 percent in 2009, and raise per
capita income to US$1,731 in 2009 from $968 last year.
To narrow the gap between big business and small and medium
enterprises, Susilo said these would be given more access to
capital.
With regard to the stalled fight against corruption, Susilo
said he would set up an anticorruption team that he himself would
lead, since corruption was endemic in society.
He also said that other state institutions, especially the
Supreme Audit Agency, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
and the legal system would be strengthened to wage war against
corruption.
Admitting that the country's education system is a mess,
Susilo said during a General Elections Commission (KPU)-sponsored
televised dialog that his administration would in the next five
years try hard to approach the 20 percent benchmark for
government spending on education as mandated by the Constitution.
He said that meeting the constitutional requirement was within
the government's grasp if the country's economy were to grow at a
sufficient rate and his administration could boost efficiency.
To reach the target, Susilo said that his administration
would, among other things, defer the construction of unnecessary
buildings and the purchase of luxury cars for state officials.
Fiscal expansion and the profits made by state-owned enterprises
could be other sources of funding.
On terrorism, Susilo and Kalla emphasized the importance of
close coordination between the security authorities and close
cooperation between the authorities and the public.
Susilo said that besides improving the security authorities'
capacity to launch security operations, Indonesia should also
continue to enhance regional cooperation to counter terrorism and
transnational crimes.
Despite his military background, Susilo said that he would
promote a balance between security and liberty.
Susilo also said that he would gradually abolish the
Indonesian Military (TNI)'s territorial role.