SBY’s Priorities: `Prosperity, Democracy and Justice’
More than 230 million citizens can hope for increased “prosperity, democracy and justice”, according to Indonesia’s first President to be directly elected, and also the first to be re-elected.
Following Tuesday’s inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono, Yudhoyono said that his priority for the next five years, which will be his final term under the Constitution, would be to improve public welfare through economic growth “coupled with equity”.
“We also wish to build a dignified democratic system, one that provides space for freedom and people’s political rights, without leaving aside stability and political order.”
On justice, Yudhoyono said his new government aimed for better justice, “marked by respect for a way of life that is nondiscriminatory, *that provides* equal opportunity and nurtures social empathy and protection of the weak”.
The President said he had drawn up “a 100-day program, and a one-year program” as well as a five-year program, yet only revealed the latter.
With a “can-do spirit,” he added in English, Indonesians should be able to maintain economic growth amid the global crisis, and uphold good governance and wipe out corruption.
In the short five-page speech, Yudhoyono did not touch on the heavy criticisms about the anticorruption movement, which is seen to be faltering amid intensive investigations into the leaders of the state antigraft body.
In the midst of political crises across the world, he said the nation should be thankful that Indonesia “remains steadfast as an increasingly strong and stable democracy”.
Relatively improved stability under Yudhoyono’s leadership has won praise from abroad, though most local observers fear the long-term impact of almost no opposition in parliament.
The President’s Democratic Party won more than 60 percent of votes in April’s legislative elections, as well as a substantial majority in the House of Representatives along with his coalition partners, while nominations for the new Cabinet are dominated by his coalition.
For the “success” of the previous administration, Yudhoyono conveyed gratitude to his former rival in the presidential race and the last vice president, Jusuf Kalla. He also thanked past ministers, as well as all members of the House and the People’s Consultative Assembly.
He thanked his other former rival, former president Megawati Soe-karnoputri, who failed to show up to his inauguration for the second time in a row, though her husband, Taufik Kiemas, chaired the ceremony as the new MPR Speaker.
Despite kind words on the previous administration, SBY said this was no time for complacency, noting the threat to stability from fluctuating oil and commodity prices.
Yudhoyono, the fourth president since the authoritarian Soeharto stepped down, stressed that the nation’s “most treasured social capital and national potential” that should be preserved was “our Indonesian-ness,” as reflected in “pluralism or diversity, family attitudes, decency, tolerance, a moderate outlook, openness and humanity”.
However, he failed to respond to earlier criticisms that the passing of the anti-pornography law last year threatened the tolerance of cultural differences.
Addressing the international community, he began by thanking the attending leaders of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Timor Leste, and the special envoys sent by other countries.
Yudhoyono stressed that with “a million friends and zero enemies”, Indonesia would continue to engage in a free and active foreign policy.
Following his participation in the latest meeting of the world’s 20 biggest economies, Yudhoyono said Indonesia would continue to pursue the Millennium Development Goals, mainly to minimize poverty.
He also reiterated his government’s commitment to tackling climate change.
Source: The Jakarta Post
