T

he debate over Boediono's "neolib" label continued Tuesday as economists defended the vice president hopeful from allegations he had implemented a neoliberal economic model benefiting only certain groups and neglecting the poor majority.

"There has been progress in people's prosperity *since Boediono was coordinating minister for the economy*," M. Chatib Basri, an economist and expert adviser to the finance minster, told a forum.

He pointed out unemployment had dropped from 10.4 percent in 2006 to 8.4 percent this year.

"But although there has been improvement, it is not enough," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's choice of Boediono as running mate drew the ire of the incumbent's coalition partners at the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

The ticket has been also come under fire from other candidates, who say they will only continue the same neoliberal economic policies.

"Economic policies in Indonesia are always pragmatic; ideology is an accessory. The way you define liberalism depends on your thinking, so it's better to go back to numbers as a basis, which show there has been some progress in our prosperity," Chatib said.

Economist Raden Pardede said whatever economic models any government implemented, they were designed to benefit the people.

"All economic models aim to bring prosperity to the people. Even neoliberalism, marxism, keynesian - all these are aimed at increasing people's prosperity," he said.

He added political factors determined whether a leader was democratic or authoritarian, and whether the government was centralist or staggered.

"There are always speculations in every market - the stock market, financial market, goods market. Those come from greed," Raden said, dismissing Vice President Jusuf Kalla's remarks that Tanah Abang Market was far more important than the stock market.

Indonesian Center for Responsive Politics executive director Bara Hasibuan called on the other candidates not to attack Boediono as a vice presidential candidate.

"All decisions are made by the president, not his deputy," he said.

Gadjah Mada University economics expert Revrisond Baswir pointed out none of the three tickets contesting the upcoming race was free of neoliberalist tendencies.

"If we look at their track records, all have been involved in neoliberal economic practices," he said Monday in a dialogue on neoliberalism versus the "people's economy".

He added the candidates differed in the extent to which they practiced neoliberal concepts.