Only one month after the inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration for its second term, serious problems have sprung up, and so far no credible answers have been given. The most serious problem is the high-level conflict between the National Police (Polri) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
The presidential fact-finding team has recommended the President to stop the legal proceedings against the two KPK deputies Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto who were framed by the police and take measures against those who abused their power at the police and Attorney General’s Office.
However, the National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji are continuing to process the corruption allegations against Chandra and Bibit, arguing that they have enough evidence.
Meanwhile, the President has warned the public not to push him into handling the controversy.
This high-profile case is a direct test of the credibility of the President in fighting corruption. This is much more important as Transparency International announced that corruption remains rampant in Indonesia or has worsened.
His achievement in eradicating corruption brought Yudhoyono a landslide victory in the July presidential election.
Another serious problem that upsets a lot of people is the frequent electricity blackouts that have reached the capital city Jakarta.
The breakdown of a transformer in the power station in Cawang, East Jakarta, has made businessmen and local residents furious. Despite the promises of PLN (the national electricity company) and the Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Radjasa to overcome the problem by the end of the month, there is doubt whether this will be the case.
Not only is PLN having problems with its cash flow, the complexity of the power problems in the country is getting worse.
Meanwhile, economic ministers are still busy setting their priorities. During the recent National Summit the President delivered his keynote speech.
All key ministers also delivered their speeches. But up to now, it is still unclear what the government’s 100-day program actually is.
Certainly, there is a lot of confusion between the 100-day program and the annual and five-year programs. Disregarding what the 100-day program is all about, clearly the two cases above are directly confronting the administration to solve the issues in the short term as well as on a continuous basis.
Not to mention the other existing problems, such as the seasonal flooding in the capital city and many areas of the country.
The cases show how costly indecisiveness can be. The procrastination on infrastructure development, not to confront the problem directly, has turned out to be extremely costly. SBY’s first five-year administration was supposed to be able to handle the power generation problem, because it was more manageable compared to other infrastructure development that were hampered by structural issues, such as land acquisition for road projects.
In the SBY’s administration’s second term, the electricity law that was just passed by the parliament allows local government to provide their own power generation and its electricity distribution no longer depends on PLN.
It opens up a quick way to solve the power shortage. Private, both national and foreign investors are still quite interested in power projects. It is up to the administration to speed up the process and get things done.
On the issue of a declining will to fight corruption, again President SBY seems very reluctant to take tough measures, even in areas under his control like the police and the Attorney General’s Office.
This just creates further political speculation that erodes the President’s credibility, and even his popularity that he is so concerned about.
The House of Representatives (DPR) members are pushing for an investigation into the bailout of the now-defunct Bank Century. The devastating impact of the Bank Century inquiry is the rising distrust among foreign investors, the business community in general, and even in the whole population.
On the other hand, if the President shows his decisiveness it will strengthen the view that he will be more decisive in his second term and get more things done. Certainly if he could appoint more appropriate people in the important government posts, this would strengthen optimism in our future, not only for the continuation of reform but also the progress of the country.
It is clear the President should rely to more reliable, capable and reform-minded ministers at strategic ministries, and too at the police and Attorney General’s Office.
Otherwise, he will have to take care of most things himself and further reveal his basic attitude of indecisiveness. Being surrounded by capable people in important ministerial posts, in the police, and in the Attorney General’s Office will not only make the job of president a lot easier but also get more results.
No matter how good the 100-day programs and medium-term development policies are on paper, with the current composition of ministers and the condition of bureaucracy, the police and the Attorney General’s Office, not much can be expected.
The policies and programs should be in line with the capability of the administration to execute them, implement them and get good result. Otherwise it will simply create further frustration.
The writer is the chairman of CIDES (Center for Information and Development Studies, and a senior fellow at the Habibie Center.
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