How bad are the politics of SBY?

Special Column: Guest bloggers

by Wimar Witoelar on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 8:57 pm

Most analysts see the economic outlook for 2007 and 2008 in varying degrees of optimism, depending on where the analyst comes from. A recent presentation by Dr Chatib Basri, a government advisor known for his integrity, gives next year projections of GDP growth at 6 to 6.5%, inflation hovering at 6.5 %, and generally improving trends in macro-economic indicators. This should present an inviting backdrop for business prospects in the Indonesia of the near future. However, care should be taken in disregarding uncertainties affecting these projections. Government priorities required to support these predictions are not necessarily guaranteed. These are in the areas of employment creation, poverty alleviation, reform in the labor market and infrastructure development

Government priorities tend to suffer from interaction with political realities. Take the historic cases of Lapindo Brantas, Newmont and Freeport, where it is difficult to see the border between sound business practice and government-backed political intervention. Many major companies do not combine economic with social interests, as government shies from their role as guardian of the public need.

Take the case of the recent cabinet reshuffle and how much political realities played a part. The original public demands were for accountability ( e.g. transportation, justice, state secretariat), performance (e.g. infocom, industry, health, education) and especially conflict of interest (Minister Coordinator for Social Welfare). Then media and public were distracted from their focus on good governance and effective government to ‘the reshuffle’ as a political happening.

From disappointment in government performance, the focus shifted to ‘who’ and ‘when’. At the end, the reshuffle proved to be politically-driven. Notable exceptions are the dismissals of the cabinet ministers for Justice and Human Rights and for the State Secretariat. While their cases of alleged corruption may not be of major proportions, keeping them in office would have put the President’s credibility at high risk.

Now comes the politics. The vacancy in the State Secretariat allowed SBY to move Hatta Rajasa away from the Transportation Ministry where he had presided over too many disasters in public air, sea and rail transport. Rajasa avoided moral sanctions because his real role in the cabinet makeup is to represent PAN, a party that SBY wants to keep on his side. Hatta Rajasa showed his usefulness when he intermediated between the President and Amien Rais when the latter played the campaign funds gambit, a small matter to which SBY devoted a high-profile television appearance.

Positions for Information and Communications and State Enterprises were shuffled around to get rid of independent-minded Sugiarto with no political party armor and to reward Sofyan Djalil who goes to ridiculous lengths to please the President, even threatening a lawsuit on a popular television parody which offended the First Lady.

The Minister for Disadvantaged Areas, if that is the correct translation for Daerah Tertinggal, went from the former to the current PKB secretary general as if the position were ex-officio.

The most shameful decision was to remove the Attorney General who was just starting to find his pace and zoom in several flagrant cases including Soeharto himself. SBY used the reshuffle to replace him as several corrupt Golkar officials had complained that their decades-long corrupt schemes were being prosecuted by the independent Abdulrahman Saleh.

If I had a nickel for every complaint heard about the SBY government, I would be as rich as the corrupt officials. Well, not really, but I would have a lot of nickels. Most of the complaints are legitimate, but one type that I would not pay a nickel for is the kind that says: “It was much better in the Soeharto days.” Really?

Well, if the person who said those words is serious, then he pr she must be in the lucky but immoral group of cronies, sycophants and apparati of the Soeharto family, or he would be one who profited from the Soeharto regime. To be sure, there are many groups of profiteers and many people who had a better life in the Soeharto years. The persons are not necessarily that bad either. One striking example is the foreign investor.

For the multinationals and international business people, business in the Soeharto meant certainty, security and implicit guarantee of success. It was rare to find a foreign investor who went broke in Soeharto’s Indonesia. Difficult entry, they say, big rewards. The difficulty, then as now, lay not so much in the business risks but in the intricate legal maze that foreign investors faced, which could be maneuvered only with expert guidance from people who know the ways of the government bureaucracy. Once you had that conquered, the rest is easy. Herein lies the key. If you can find a link to Soeharto, direct or indirect, then you are in business. That is the kind of guarantee that you cannot find in today’s Indonesia.

It is important to recognize the different aspects of reform in Indonesia since 1998. Reforms in leadership are quite secular from reforms in society at large. You certainly have a lower competence of leadership now compared to the days of the Soeharto regime. But today we have a stronger civil society, a free press and a public that is so strong that even the President has to play politics to keep afloat. Unfortunately, President Yudhoyono is playing the wrong kind of politics, because that is the only kind he knows.

Wimar Witoelar was a regular panelist during the entire life span of the ABC TV Asia Pacific current affairs weekly show 'The Editors' broadcast from Singapore, written articles and quotes in Time, Newsweek, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Straits Times, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review.

There are 31 comments for this entry. Add yours

Ahmad Sahidah

Unfortunately, Presiden Yudhoyono is playing the wrong kind of politics, because that is the only kind he knows.

This conclusion would be problematic because the president have to consider many things as the lack of parliament support for doing his policies. In my oppinion, he is only the idol of the other power.

June 6th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Jim

As New Order successfully doctrined, Indonesia need stability. Most of us do not care about idealism knd of stuffs. We tried with Gus Dur–of course along with you on the battlefield. Most of us more happier with Megawati. So the problem lies on happiness? :D

June 8th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Train Your Brain

Mr. Witular,

Wouldn’t it be nice if you change the title to “How Good are the Politics of SBY”?. No, no, no. I’m not his supporter. But being positive is the only way to see life in good perspective ;-)

Chit-chating on SBY, in my opinion, is just a waste of time. Why don’t we put our energy on other causes that really need our attention.

June 8th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
wimar

Not everybody have to care about idealism. There are far more worker ants than thinking ants. It’s no crime either to place stability above our children’s future. As as long as we have democracy, everybody can make their choices, and may the best choice prevail.

June 8th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
wimar

Dear Mr Train Your Brain,

I agree with you completely. You are kindly invited to visit my own blog perspektif.net where we discuss a whole lot of other things. In fact I do not even discuss politics unless I am asked. So I am grateful for your vote.

May I also ask you to Train Your Courage by posting your real name, because I am using mine ..:)

Wimar “mr positive” Witoelar

June 8th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Satya

LOL.. these are probably personal bloggers who are not used to reading politics-related posts.. next thing you hear they want to hear positive sides of GEORGE BUSH?

June 8th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Jennie

Bung Wimar, enjoy Amsterdam. Glad to be your neighbor here at AsiaBlogging. Keep smiling and inspiring all of us. I especially admire your enthusiasm and courage to be different within and without.

Jennie “Ms. Positive Too” S. Bev

June 8th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Jennie

@Satya, it may be so. Many people (bloggers included) are not aware of the so-called “fourth estate” function of journalists. And your dad is exactly that. One of the strongest fourth estates in Indonesia.

Kudos.

Jennie “Ms. Positive-but-Sometimes-Can-Be-Not-Quite-Positive” S. Bev

June 8th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Halim

Hats off to Wimar whose articles are always inspiring and fresh. I long for a clean,smart leadership with courage, and getting bored with empty rethoric of SBY which bring us nowhere.

June 9th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
ebiet

it’s always nice to read your opinion either in paper or in cyber.
in some senses i agree with what you are saying here but i believe and i think you know it better than me that up till now we’re still in transition stage especially in political mindset and cultur. even now most of politicians claim that they bring the spirit of ‘reformation’ but in reality their performance still influenced much of their political activities in the past.
bottom line is, who ever runs this country as long as their used to be part of the old regime, their performance will not be far from the past.
thanks

June 10th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
damar

SBY oh how poor you are,
please keep on ur promises,
when that will really realisted

June 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Wibisono Sastrodiwiryo

I won’t vote for him on the next general election in year 2009 for sure.

June 12th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Indratno Widiarto

I did not give my vote to neither one. But certainly I will vote for one in year 2009. It is sure not for him.

June 13th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Chandra

Poor SBY…I think he moves too slow…

June 13th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
abii gurman

Ada yang bilang SBY si “peragu”
ada lagi yang bilang cuma wayang yang dimainkan ki dalang.
Tapi memang SBY kan satu-satunya Presiden yang pernah ngobrol dengan si cepot

June 13th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
abii gurman

ijin ya Pak Wim, tulisannya sy copy

June 13th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
miund

Dear Pak Wimar,

I’m just wondering… is this ‘bad performance’ of SBY’s regime just a plot so that more people will wish for Soeharto’s era to come back?

Sorry for the novice question, I know nothing about politics. Am just very curious :D

June 15th, 2007 at 12:15 am
Marisa Duma

I’ve bookmarked this on del.icio.us

“But being positive is the only way to see life in good perspective ;-)”
Well said. This guy made politics sound like a yoga lesson.

Anyways, politics isn’t exactly my battlefield.
But here’s what I know from politics, even if our enemies can’t hurt us …but indeed that it’s our friends who will.

Hope I am making any sense. :rolleyes:

June 16th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Ian

Poor for us. Looks like a smart leader is still far away from realistic .. mine oh mine

June 16th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Roland

Many kind of country problem arising out, but sby still sleeping just like a baby.
how come a leader can do such a thing.
poverty, nature ilegal exploitation, high education fee and so on, poor indonesia.
i think we need a brave leader, with good vision an alot of “controversy” :p

June 17th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
gans

he has no experience yet..
give him another chance..
i believe he’ll done well..

June 18th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Herman Saksono

I think political support over public welfare issue is quite common in most countries, including developed one. I was wondering if those developed and democratically-experienced nations has special instruments to subdues this problem?

Or is it just one of those things that requres time and energy to get experienced with?

Thank You!

June 19th, 2007 at 12:46 am
frank berthold

Harga minyak goreng, obat, pupuk, pangan trus naik.. Karena kelapa
sawit (CPO) dan minyak jarak dipakai sebagai bahan baku Bio Gas. Padahal idealnya bahan baku bio gas adalah sampah.
Presiden dan pembantu2nya tau nggak sih..?

June 19th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
brissa eden

selama SBY jadi president, tiap hari saya semakin miskin. katanya kemiskinan adalah hasil dari kemalasan dan kurang ilmu. tapi di indonesia kemiskinan adalah disebabkan oleh system yang buruk. kesalahan mengelola negara, termasuk kebijakan SBY yang tidak bekerja berdarkan prioritas. Seharusnya pak SBY paham donk, bahwa yang paling penting dalam investasi pertama kali adalah keamanan; bagaimana negaranya akan aman, kalau ga ada kepastian hukum. bagaimana akan ada kepastian, kalau SBY ga bisa mengambil keputusan dengan tegas. Selama anda memimpin semua project saya batal. semua calon investor saya batal investasi. kalau emang udah terlalu pusing dan ga mampu lagi jadi president, mending mengundurkan diri aja, sekarang aja sudah terlalu banyak rakyat menderita.

June 19th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Zanial Mazalisa

Mana yang lebih baik, Gusdur, Mega, atau SBY

July 13th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
pram

Kalo menurut saya pribadi sih Sby

July 21st, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Demokrasi Indonesia semakin maju | arifabdull

[…] gambaran yang saya fahami dari membaca rencana pengarang di Jakarta Post. Yang pasti, kebebasan tidak pernah diberikan secara percuma. Jadi, percayakah anda jika pemimpin BN (terutamanya, UMNO) kata Malaysia memperolehi […]

July 24th, 2007 at 1:46 am
arifabdull

Sepertinya kita mengalami masalah yang serupa.
Kalau kalian bilang SBY si peragu dan ’slow’, ya kami di Malaysia juga malang karena punya Pak Lah yang sepertinya nggak tau apa mau dibikin.

Taunya dia, cuman jalan-jalan ke luar negara sih. Menurut statistik, selama 44 bulan jadi Perdana Menteri dia sudah ke luar negara sebanyak 84 kali… waduh! Lagi satu, dia emang suka ngorok (sleeping).

Kasian sekali deh kita nih!!

July 24th, 2007 at 1:55 am
Aris Yulianta

I’ve been waiting for his action to help his people. I vote for him on election due to several positive reason and positive wishes. I and my family are deeply hurted and badly disappointed. SBY plays too safe… Poor decision maker! My message for him “NO PAIN, NO GAIN!” feel the pain… and you will understand! Your people suffer from malnutrition… for their body… for their soul…

July 31st, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Masindi

SBY is a hopeless individual who only cares about being popular. He was part of the problem and chose to remain to be part of the problem: TNI + Suharto clan.

August 1st, 2007 at 6:02 pm
iid yusuf

SBY has good manner, good personality, and great vision. But his subordinates are too weak and like doing corruption..Those are the real matters of Us : Corruption & inferior..

October 9th, 2007 at 4:30 pm

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