Susilo's hurdles
It is part of the irony of Indonesia's recent history that even at this hour of overwhelming electoral triumph, the nation's new president-elect, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, must be ready to handle the obstructions that are certain to occur during his five-year term, which will formally begin on Oct. 20.
Certainly, by all the conventional standards of democratic practice, SBY, as he is popularly known, should have as little trouble governing as is possible under Indonesia's prevailing political and societal climate.
With the official vote tally completed and made public yesterday, Susilo is assured of the support of nearly 61 percent of the 116 million voters who cast their ballots in last month's election -- the first direct presidential election ever in this country's 59 years of independence. By comparison, his rival, the outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri, received just 39 percent of the vote.
Quite obviously, however, the most conspicuous obstacle that awaits Susilo as soon as he takes the reins of power on Oct. 20 is that the alliance of parties that supports him is a minority in the House of Representatives -- his own Democratic Party controls only about 10 percent of seats -- with the great majority belonging to the "other side," the so-called Nationhood Coalition, which includes the two biggest political parties, President Megawati's own Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and the Golkar Party, plus a number of smaller parties.
In a worst-case scenario, therefore, the Nationhood Coalition would be well-equipped to obstruct the president in his work and prevent him from carrying out the pledged policies that have won him the voters' support in the first place: reviving the economy, cracking down on corruption and creating jobs. It is little comfort, both to the new president and to the Indonesian populace at large, to say that this huge gap that exists between political party support and popular support points to an electoral system that no longer reflects the realities that are alive within the Indonesian body politic.
Disheartening as such a situation may be, it is only part of a complicated maze of problems that await the incoming president, or any well-intentioned leader bent on improving the lot of the people. While progress has been made under President Megawati's administration, the economy has been growing too slowly -- less then 5 percent in recent years. Corruption remains rampant and more than 38 million Indonesians out of a population of 210 million live below the poverty line, subsisting on less than US$1 a day. Well over 41 million people are either unemployed or underemployed.
Given this dire situation, the best hope Indonesians have for improving their lot under the new president is for the majority parties in the national legislature to be able to have the wisdom to put the interests of the people and the country above their own. It is time, for their own good and for the good of the nation, that they realize that change has already begun in Indonesia.
But even assuming that reconciliation can be achieved on a national scale and differences can be put aside, the three major goals that SBY has set for himself -- reviving the economy, cracking down on corruption and creating jobs -- remain daunting indeed, and especially so in the political culture here. Let us hope, therefore, that the new president will show himself to be a true statesman, who is able to avoid the pitfalls of authoritarian power that entrapped our former president, Soeharto, in the latter years of his tenure. As the nation approaches its 60th year of independence, the citizens have a right indeed to finally see their struggles pay off in terms of improved welfare, greater justice and greater prosperity.