SBY spokesman admits many reform dreams yet to come true

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha admits that the government has failed to fulfill all the aspirations of the people since Indonesia entered the reform era following the fall of the authoritarian regime of the late former president Soeharto in 1998.

“The President is aware that after more than 10 years of the reform era, there are still many things that we should have achieved. However, we cannot ignore that the government has also made many improvements,” Julian said at the Presidential Office on Monday.

“The President believes that this reform progress is still a work in progress. He has a great commitment to fulfilling reform aspirations particularly in terms of law enforcement and human rights,” he added.

Julian was commenting on the criticisms by activists published in numerous media outlets today slamming President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administrations for having failed to realize the aspirations of the reform era since he first entered office in 2004.

Activists believe Yudhoyono’s failure is centered on the fact that certain political groups remain in control of the country’s politics for their own interests.

“We need to respond to this matter proportionally in the sense that the reform era should not be taken as justification for anybody to do anything without any limits,” Julian said.