Indonesia: ‘Cautiousness, slowness’ mark SBY’s second term

This year, criticisms have  focused more on the President’s allegedly “slow” response in protecting minorities, such as the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect and members of the HKBP church in Bekasi, West Java.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Post | Headlines
By Erwida Maulia and Andi Hajramurni | October 20, 2010

Without the presence of ever-outspoken former vice president Jusuf Kalla, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems to have confirmed his “cautious-style” leadership in the first year of his second term in office, with critics saying he was “slow”.

Indo Barometer survey institute executive director Muhammad Qodari said although Yudhoyono was known to be characteristically cautious in making decisions, the public had inevitably expected him to respond faster to problems occurring among them, given that he had led Indonesia for five years, which should mean that he was now more experienced.

“He also has a larger coalition now, which means larger political support. But it seems that he can’t change that characteristic; he will only make decisions after gathering thorough and detailed information regarding problems at stake,” he said.


“He will also firstly watch the public’s reaction to ensure that his decisions will not go against them.”

Despite a landslide victory in the 2009 presidential election, Yudhoyono has been subject to severe criticism since he assumed office for the second time on Oct. 20, 2009.

A University of Indonesia political expert, a long-term critic of  Yudhoyono, Effendi Gazali, said the President was well-known for his cautious character, previously offset by the style of dynamic Kalla between 2004 and 2009. “Now he has [Vice President] Boediono, who does not have the courage to voice different opinions,” he said.

Last year, the President was accused of attempting to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with the police’s naming of two of its leaders as suspects in a bribery and extortion case, and then he was accused of protecting Boediono and finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati for their involvement in the Bank Century bailout case.

This year, criticisms have  focused more on the President’s allegedly “slow” response in protecting minorities, such as the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect and members of the HKBP church in Bekasi, West Java.
Most recently he was harshly criticized for dealing “very slowly” with the deadly flash flood  that recently hit Wasior, a district in West Papua.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi of the Indonesia Survey Institute (LSI), which announced in late August that Yudhoyono’s popularity had been steadily declining since November 2009, said the President seemed to care more about the opinions of his constituents, resulting in his neglecting of minority rights.

“He doesn’t want to lose votes from his conservative Muslim constituents... SBY is all about self-image, unfortunately Boediono, unlike JK [Kalla] is too weak to counter that,” Burhanuddin said.

Speaking in Makassar, the President said during a meeting with the country’s 33 provincial governors that it was the responsibility of local administrations to deal quickly with social conflicts in the regions.

“Conflicts must be dealt with quickly. When a conflict occurs, you must readily handle it without waiting for instruction from the central government.

“It should be enough that governors, as representatives of the central government in regions, coordinate with local police offices and military posts,” Yudhoyono said.

He added that governors should also coordinate with local leaders, including heads of districts, subdistricts and neighborhood units, as they were the ones who knew better the nature of the situations in each of their own areas.


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