High alert: Hundreds of police officers take part in a rehearsal, a day before a massive demonstration in Jakarta on Thursday to mark President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s first 100 days in his office. The police said some 10,000 officers were ready to be deployed to guard the rally. JP/Nurhayati
On Aug. 3, 2009, President Yudhoyono delivered his address on the 2010 development program in front of parliament members. So the government development program for 2010 was proposed by the SBY 2004-2009 administration.
The question is: What is the 100-day program for?
Will SBY reach 2014 and achieve the 7 percent economic growth?
The answer is so simple: Do the students accept his program or not? As our history shows, Sukarno and Soeharto both fell due to the student movement.
Ali Syarief
Bandung
How could we expect President SBY to resolve all the problems in the country in just 100 days! As a citizen, I do support the President’s persistence, through his Cabinet, in combating corruption and poverty; improving education, helping the environment; and providing an affordable healthcare program.
The most important thing is that every good citizen should be part of the solution and help the President complete his programs. Good luck, President Yudhoyono.
Yayuk Mardiati
Jember, West Java
The first 100 days of SBY have been lost just dealing with the Century issue. It’s very disappointing. I was expecting something to prove his motto “Continue” (“Lanjutkan”).
I think this period was the worst performance of SBY’s. He had nothing to say but just defended himself against someone whenever they said something not conducive about him, his family or even his party.
I noticed his speeches at several events were not related to the topic of the event at all. At least, that’s what the media reported.
Renni Suhardi
Bandung
As former Indonesian leaders did, I’m sure he will claim his administration successful though, in reality, very little progress has been made. I pity that most Indonesians have been so easily taken in by his rhetoric.
In the education sector, for instance, he proved to be not straightforward in making up his mind whether the National Examinations (UN) were worth continuing.
I strongly expected that the leader would choose the right man for the right job, however, Muhammad Nuh should be reshuffled and the sooner, the better. Arif Rachman knows more about these issues.
Bejo
Bantul, Yogyakarta
So far so good, he just needs to be more aggressive toward those that criticize him. Otherwise, he will just keep entertaining them and not be able to do what he is supposed to do: to make Indonesia a better place for us all. He has got about 60 percent of the people backing him ... bring it on!
Johnny Doe
Jakarta
To evaluate the performance of a president who was elected for a five-year term within just 100 days is ridiculous and unreasonable. Even so, as a loyal supporter who voted for SBY as president twice, watching his leadership, I am now pessimistic that he will be successful in his second term.
As a president who was elected with such strong popular backing, he should not continue to take a “wait and see” attitude in state matters, not leave his ministers to be individually responsible for state policies and not keep establishing independent committees.
Instead, he should take firm decisions and accept full responsibility. In our dynamic society, where the meaning of democracy is often abused, we need a strong, decisive leader.
Soebagjo Soetadji
Jakarta
