Hurdles of Susilo
 Updated: 2004-10-09 08:30

It is part of the irony of Indonesia's recent history that even at this hour of overwhelming electoral triumph, the nation's new president-elect, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, must be ready to handle the obstructions that are certain to occur during his five-year term, which will formally begin on October 20.

Certainly, by all the conventional standards of democratic practice, SBY, as he is popularly known, should have as little trouble governing as is possible under Indonesia's prevailing political and societal climate.

With the official vote tally completed and made public on October 5, Susilo is assured of the support of nearly 61 per cent of the 116 million voters who cast their ballots in last month's election the first direct presidential election ever in this country's 59 years of independence. By comparison, his rival, the outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri, received just 39 per cent of the vote.

Quite obviously, however, the most conspicuous obstacle that awaits Susilo as soon as he takes the reins of power on October 20 is that the alliance of parties that supports him is a minority in the House of Representatives his own Democratic Party controls only about 10 per cent of seats with the great majority belonging to the "other side," the so-called Nationhood Coalition, which includes the two biggest political parties, President Megawati's own Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and the Golkar Party, plus a number of smaller parties.

In a worst-case scenario, therefore, the Nationhood Coalition would be well-equipped to obstruct the president in his work and prevent him from carrying out the pledged policies that have won him the voters' support in the first place: reviving the economy, cracking down on corruption and creating jobs. It is little comfort, both to the new president and to the Indonesian populace at large, to say this huge gap that exists between political party support and popular support points to an electoral system that no longer reflects the realities that are alive within the Indonesian body politic.

Disheartening as such a situation may be, it is only part of a complicated maze of problems that await the incoming president, or any well-intentioned leader bent on improving the lot of the people. While progress has been made under President Megawati's administration, the economy has been growing too slowly - less then 5 per cent in recent years. Corruption remains rampant and more than 38 million Indonesians out of a population of 210 million live below the poverty line, subsisting on less than US$1 a day. Well over 41 million people are either unemployed or underemployed.

The Jakarta Post, Indonesia

(China Daily)

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