JAKARTA - Two years into his
five-year term, Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono presents himself as a sincere,
hard-working reformer, a long-distance runner
pacing himself on a marathon run. But many
Indonesians think the country needs a sprinter.
The Indonesian people are losing patience.
For almost a decade they endured political
paralysis and economic crisis. Tens of thousands
of people died in religious and ethnic strife,
many
hundreds of thousands
more lost their homes and livelihood; millions of
children were deprived of an education. So today,
more than eight years since the fall of the
dictator Suharto, there is a palpable desire to
see more progress.
Yudhoyono's principal
achievement to date has been to preserve and
consolidate the democratic transition achieved by
his election in 2004. No one questions his
legitimacy, and this stability has helped restore
domestic social harmony and foreign investor
confidence. Hundreds of local elections have been
held peacefully up and down the vast archipelago,
giving real meaning to local autonomy.
When Yudhoyono, a former army general,
came to power in October 2004, he vowed to
continue the peace process he started in 1999
aimed at settling the long-running conflict in
Aceh province. Peace finally came to Aceh in
August 2005, and the agreement, reached with rebel
leaders after years of tough negotiation, is
holding.
Yudhoyono's ability to win the
support and confidence of the military has also
helped fashion an effective counter-terrorism
strategy. Disgruntled conservatives may snipe and
conspire from the sidelines, but there is no
longer widespread fear in society that people's
rights will be abused by men in uniform. Critics
mainly focus on the government's reluctance to
punish those responsible for committing crimes
before Indonesia's transition to democracy.
Creeping extremism But while the
president has worked assiduously to bring peace to
Aceh, rein in the worst of military abuses and
combat terror, he has paid less attention to other
polarizing forces in Indonesian society, forces
that threaten the foundations of Indonesia as a
moderate Muslim nation.
On Yudhoyono's
watch, the forces of Islamic extremism have made
headway. The number of districts governed by
conservative sharia law has more than doubled.
This isn't just a concern for foreign investors
and allies in the "war against terror". Many
Indonesians are worried that parliament will pass
a law criminalizing many aspects of entertainment
that Indonesians consider a hallmark of their
tolerant society.
The president has been
slow to assure this substantial majority of
Indonesian citizens of his commitment to
pluralism. He has allowed militant groups to
operate without outlawing them and stood by as
minorities have been persecuted. As in neighboring
Malaysia, the forces of Islamic extremism are
slowly gaining ground.
Among Indonesians
there are also mounting concerns about the
economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is
falling short of the 6% target set by the
government last year and since has been revised
downward. A high-profile drive to attract
investment in infrastructure has fallen flat, and
business executives grumble that much of what the
president is doing for reform is to polish his
image. In fact, as far as the business community
is concerned, much of the credit for economic
management goes to Yudhoyono's feisty vice
president, Jusuf Kalla.
Critics point to
the president's slow decision-making. With almost
50 people dead from avian influenza, there is an
urgent need for more commitment to a strategy to
tackle the virus before it becomes a pandemic.
Economists say he should order another increase in
domestic fuel prices to reduce the fiscal burden
of subsidies. Inflation in August was running at
around 15%.
Yet understandable impatience
must be weighed against the benefits of
better-quality leadership. Yudhoyono's poor family
background and his marriage into a family with a
proud military heritage have forged a beneficial
blend of empathy and idealism - both rare
qualities in Indonesian elite circles.
Two
years on and the rampant corruption and abuse of
power associated with previous Indonesian leaders
are scarcely evident. The president's
identification with the common people is still
strong, as demonstrated by his swift reaction to
natural disasters such as the recent Central Java
earthquake and a new commitment to spend US$1.5
billion on poverty alleviation next year.
Even so, many Indonesians worry about the
rot that still afflicts the rest of the
bureaucracy and urge Yudhoyono to make speedier
decisions and show more muscle. Yudhoyono is said
to be reluctant to stick his neck out too far in a
political environment where, despite his popular
mandate, he still feels insecure. Two years on and
he still hasn't built a strong party platform in
parliament and relies instead on a shaky alliance
of smaller secular and Islamic parties.
The worry is that having survived longer
than his two immediate predecessors, Yudhoyono may
feel tempted to slow down even more. That would be
a mistake. The Indonesian people have lost a lot
of time already. With his popularity waning, now
is the time to start sprinting.
Michael Vatikiotis is senior
visiting research fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies and former editor of the
Far Eastern Economic Review.
