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Indonesia’s Future President Faces Grand Challenges
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Fighting
corruption, improving the economy and instating human rights’
values are among the challenges Yudhoyono face
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By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent
KUALA
LUMPUR, September 29, (IslamOnline.net) – Observers and political
analysts believe Indonesia’s future President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono is facing a tough job ahead with five major issues awaiting
his swift touch; human rights, corruption, security and terror issues,
education and economic development.
“The
new president has plenty up his sleeve. He will surely be the busiest
president for years since he made promises that he will turn the
country around,” said Professor Hasyim Abdel, who works in a Jakarta
based Non-Governmental institution told Islamonline.net Wednesday,
September 29.
Abdel
even put it more plainly, saying Yudhoyono, once declared the official
President of the largest Muslim nation on earth, will find himself
face to face with five major issues and must find solutions for if he
wants to run Indonesia smoothly.
“They
are human rights issues, corruption, security and terror issues,
education and economic development which include investment.”
Feeling
the huge task ahead, Yudhoyono, in his first speech after the
landslide win in Indonesia's presidential polls, Friday, September 24,
appealed for unity and warned of hard work ahead.
Speaking
after Friday prayers at a mosque near his house in the district of
Bogor, south of Jakarta, the former general appealed to citizens to
respect the final outcome of Indonesia’s runoff Presidential vote,
the climax to months of elections.
“I'm
asking all of you, not just those who are present in this mosque, but
everyone, to unite together after we have been competing for eight
months ... to build a better Indonesia.”
Corruption
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Indonesians
have already given Yudhoyono a popular mandate
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Abdel,
however, added that it will be difficult for Yudhoyono to defeat
corruption, which is rampant even in Shari’ah courts in Indonesia
and which has made it almost impossible for the country to open up on
investments, badly needed for the economy.
He
also added that it was impossible to conclude good business in
Indonesia if the new president does not make it an imperative to end
the creeping corrupt practices across the country.
“As
the larges Muslim nation on earth, we are to be blamed for allowing
corruption to reach such extent. You can imagine that it has reached
even the Shari’ah courts, which are supposed to be Islamic and be
principled and give examples,” he said.
He
told IOL that he would not go in detail on such an issue but that in
general, it shows that Indonesia, especially Yudhoyono, had to deal
with corruption with harshness.
Human
Rights
Barely
elected, Yudhoyono is already coming under a barrage of emails and
letters from every corners of Indonesia, including from
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and individuals urging him not
to take the same steps that his predecessors took.
The
TAPOL, an NGO fighting for the respect of Human Rights in Indonesia
commented that the new president elect is only a General who has a
long history of involvement in the military and whose hero in the army
was Sarwo Edhie, considered the most ruthless officer to serve under
Suharto. Yudhoyono is married to the daughter of Edhie.
TAPOL
regrets that Megawati was the only candidate left to fight it off with
Yudhoyono in the second round of the polls last week, accusing
Megawati of a very poor performance due to the presence of
‘unsavory’ characters surrounding her.
“There
were no civilian politicians to match Yudhoyono,” said TAPOL
regretfully in an email forwarded to IOL.
The
West Papuan Association based in Britain, in an open letter to the
president elect said they were concerned that the conflict areas of
Aceh and West Papua have so far been deprived of any form of
meaningful democracy.
“We
trust that one of your first tasks will be to attempt the peaceful
resolution of the conflicts in those territories.
“As
an organization which supports our West Papuan friends in their
constant search for justice and peace, we urge you to address the
following matters and at all times to ensure that human rights, and an
understanding of the specific grievances of the Papuan people, remain
at the centre of your policy-making on West Papua,” the letter,
forwarded to IOL by email from UK, said.
The
association is calling for an end to the division of the Papua
province into three separate provinces and urged the president to stop
the militarization of the province.
Yudhoyono,
a nationalist, will never allow the break away of the Papuan province
from Indonesia.
Indonesia
has changed the name of the province to Irian Jaya and has enforced
the regional autonomy process in the region though it is slow to
provide a local legislative assembly.
“One
solution for Yudhoyono is to appoint a Papuan from the rebel groups as
a member of his cabinet. This will solve the age old problem as such a
nomination will bring the Papuans close to his cabinet. He should do
that for the Aceh region too.
“By
nominating a Free Aceh Movement (GAM) or pro-GAM or even a
pro-independence activist in his cabinet, he will bring Aceh closer to
him,” said Isa Selamat, a political observer and adviser to a local
government in Riau province to IOL.
Isa
said Yudhoyono has the opportunity to solve many problems in Indonesia
but he must be brave to take actions that others had not.
“That
is talk peace and bring the people of these regions together in his
own government and this will make them understand the concept of
nationalism too.”
“If,
God willing, I receive the mandate to lead Indonesia for the next five
years, everybody will be a part of the people of Indonesia, whether
they in the last election voted for me or not,” Yudhoyono himself
had said Friday.
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