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Options for the Presidential Elections 2009: SBY
Jusuf Wanandi The results of the 2009 elections are crucial for the future of Indonesia, as the elected leaders, legislative and executive, inherit the noble task of preparing for a generational change of national leadership in the 2014 elections
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Jusuf Wanandi
The results of the 2009 elections are crucial for the future of Indonesia, as the elected leaders, legislative and executive, inherit the noble task of preparing for a generational change of national leadership in the 2014 elections.
In addition, Indonesia has not fully recovered from the economic crisis with consequent uncertainties prevailing to this day.
While reform programs are underway, however, there is unfinished business in the reform of the judiciary and bureaucracy, corruption eradication, infrastructure rehabilitation, security sector reform, improvement of education, health care policies for all, social safety nets, etc. These are formidable challenges which need to be overcome.
That is why we need a democratic and effective president who has the capability to usher in these much needed changes in Indonesia.
So far, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has not managed to bring about those changes in the last five years.
His government has had many plans, but has not been very effective in implementation. Many of his promises are unfulfilled and there was no stress on implementation as being important.
Some achievements thus far are more the results of societal initiatives, courage and perseverance, but never adequate to accelerate the reforms needed.
Many plans and proposals stopped short at the president's desk. This generated complaints from outside and within the bureaucracy about SBY's indecisiveness.
On May 5, 2008, the cabinet took the decision to cut the petrol and kerosene subsidies that consequently caused the fuel price increases. SBY kept postponing the announcement of this policy because it meant bad news for the people.
Eventually it was Vice President Jusuf Kalla who announced it three weeks later. When there was a shortage of rice at the end of 2007 as the stock was depleting, the policy option available was to import it. Again it took Jusuf Kalla to announce it at the request of the economic ministers.
At the Infrastructure Summit held in Jakarta in early 2005, SBY pledged to change 14 laws to attract investment. Out of the 14, only the new foreign investment law was made effective in 2007 and the new taxation law followed in 2008.
Other expected changes, especially the labor law, which is of dire importance for the nation, was never promulgated because SBY vacillated in his support for it.
His vice president took the initiative to have dialogues with the trade unions in an effort to find solutions. SBY asked Jusuf Kalla to finalize the process because he preferred not to take up a confrontational stance.
In the political field, SBY also showed his indecisiveness with regard to the adoption of sharia regulations in more than 50 districts, basically against the letter and spirit of the Constitution. When there was persecution of Ahmadiyah followers, SBY did not take action to put a stop to it.
Among the members of party coalitions that support SBY, the PKS is the most conservative, which raises worries how much SBY will compromise on some fundamental issues like education and religion.
On the foreign affairs flank, SBY did not show enough leadership in ASEAN, although Indonesia was expected to take a lead. He left early the 2006 ASEAN Summit held on Cebu Island, because of his worries about a big demonstration in Jakarta which was critical of him.
SBY was supposed to exert his influence at the 2005 ASEAN Summit on the postponement of the First East Asian Summit based on a Foreign Office briefing, but he did not do this as advised. And, when there was a proposal for the convening of a Jakarta Informal Meeting on the case of Myanmar, he backed down because he was not assured of its success.
This is all about the man who believes that he could get a Noble Prize for Peace as nominated by a US Congressman, although he never did enough to solve internal conflicts such as those in the Moluccas and Poso when he was the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs during the Megawati presidency.
Again it was Jusuf Kalla, then the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, who took the initiative to bring these conflicts to an end. Jusuf Kalla repeated this positive performance in his initiatives to facilitate the peace settlement in Aceh.
SBY also never paid serious attention to the regional conflicts in Southeast Asia, where Indonesia could help make a difference such as on the problems of Myanmar, Southern Thailand and the Southern Philippines.
In addition, his track record in security sector reform is also not obvious, although he has been in the army for most of his professional life.
These are the facts about SBY that I have gathered through my observations, most if not all having become common knowledge among the Indonesian elite.
My personal conclusion is that it is difficult to see SBY having another term as our president, especially since these will be critical years for a generational change of leadership in Indonesia.
The author is Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, CSIS Foundation.
