It seems clear that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s popularity is in decline.
A glance at the heated discourse between many Indonesians on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, or commentaries on Indonesian-based news portals will verify such speculation.
More than ever, severe criticism and condemnation have been addressed to the retired Army general who only began his second term less than two months ago.
Some facebookers and twitterers have even blamed their friends for voting for Yudhoyono in the July 8 presidential election, even though most comments are made in jest.
“Tell me, aren’t you the one who voted for him in the last election? Now look at what you’ve done,” said a facebook user to his friend a couple of months ago when the President was facing mounting pressure from the public to halt the investigations of the then suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chiefs, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah.
The National Police named them suspects, citing alleged abuses of authority, bribery and extortion, even though recorded conversations between a businessman and several high ranking officers at the police and Attorney General’s Office (AGO) revealed a plot to implicate the antigraft leaders.
In response to the nationwide broadcast of the tapes, Yudhoyono set up a special presidential fact-finding team to investigate the case, and the team recommended the President halt the police and AGO investigation of Bibit and Chandra due to a “lack of evidence”, sanctions for those involved, as well as reform the country’s law enforcement institutions.
In the long-awaited speech in response to the team’s recommendations, which was aired live on national television, Yudhoyono appeared to confuse the public more than enlighten them.
He said the case should be settled outside of court, but did not make it clear exactly what would be done with the case.
Although the police later replaced the officials allegedly involved in the plot, the investigations of Bibit and Chandra were stopped, and the two regained their positions at the KPK, the public’s opinion of Yudhoyono has continued to deteriorate.
This is not to say the public shares a common suspicion of the President’s involvement in the alleged framing or in other cases such as the controversial Bank Century bailout scandal — only a small number of people believe so.
But what the public does seem to commonly agree on is his “too careful” and “too slow” response to all of the events.
No sanctions aside from the replacement have hitherto been imposed on those allegedly involved in the framing, and the special task force the President said would be set up to fight the court mafia, which is a top priority on his first 100-day program, is still yet to be established.
Indeed, the President has often been dubbed a slow mover, moreover when compared to the former “quick thinking” vice president Jusuf Kalla, who accompanied him in the 2004-2009 Cabinet.
And the way Yudhoyono has responded to all the recent events, which have drawn immense
public attention, has seemed to remind them of those particular characteristics.
Coupled with the soft-spoken Boediono as Vice President in the new Cabinet, his slow response has sparked much concern that the country will be managed at snail pace over the next five years.
“Boediono has characters that Yudhoyono likes. Boediono places himself as a number two person and he works well in a Javanese relationship pattern,” state administrative expert Refly Harun said as quoted by Gatra magazine.
Yudhoyono finds it more comfortable to have a partner from a Javanese background, as they are noted for their soft-spoken and respectful attitude, Refly said.
Refly predicted that unlike Kalla, who often produced his own decisions and thus created tension with Yudhoyono, Boediono was unlikely to take his own initiative, preferring to let the President call the shots.
Even economist Chatib Basri, who joined the campaign team of the Yudhoyono-Boediono ticket, said that despite his mastery in economy, Boediono was unlikely to act proactively to solve the country’s economic issues.
“This isn’t an economic or non-economic matter and I don’t want to speculate. But, this is a presidential Cabinet, and all matters are thus in the President’s hands.
“Boediono’s role, as is those of the Cabinet ministers, is all up to the President,” Chatib told Gatra.
Whether or not the worries and concerns are true, it’s the President and his team who decide.
And what the government can achieve with its first 100-day programs, said to consist of 45 programs including 15 priority ones, will either confirm or deny such accusations.
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