Yudhoyono Promises Indonesia a Better Future

Yudhoyono’s campaign promises to continue his fight against corruption and boost economic development seem to have convinced a majority of Indonesia’s over 170 million voters on Wednesday.

His partnership with the governor of Bank Indonesia, Boediono, came over as more attractive than the solutions proposed by former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto and by outgoing Vice President Yusuf Kalla and his running mate Wiranto.

Fajar Nursyahid from the Jakarta-based LP3ES Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information explained how the campaign went: “People who voted for Prabowo think he’s closer to the grass roots. As for Yusuf Kalla, people also see him as having a lot of experience but in the end he was not able to compete with SBY and his running mate Boediono.”

“The candidates exploited the way they are seen by the people -- with the one having an image of being more experienced and Megawati-Prabowo of being closer to the people -- and based their campaign and the issues and jargon they used on this image.”

Yudhoyono played on his image as a reformer and the fact that he is credited with bringing economic stability and peace to the country that for decades was run by a dictator.

By choosing Boediono as his deputy -- the bank governor put Indonesia back on track after the Asian financial crisis at the end of the 1990s -- his message to the voters was clearly economic reform.

Allegations and denials of election fraud

His tactic came off but his main challenger -- former President Megawati Sukarnoputri -- refused to accept the results. She spoke of a pseudo-democratic election.

Her running mate Subianto issued the following warning on Thursday: “The current attempt to create a perception that one candidate has practically won the election is completely wrong and we appeal to all sides to refrain from making such claims.”

However, on Thursday Yudhoyono rejected all allegations of fraud saying that although “everyone is allowed to issue a statement and opinion but in the end, the people have the last say.”

“The people voted and the voting process was open for everyone to see except in the polling booth itself. We have national and international observers. So I would be very careful with allegations that this election was not transparent and not democratic. There is a mechanism, so if anyone feels the need to complain or to protest, please, respect the rules and go through the proper channels.”

A better future in five years

The president is determined to go on with his reform programme whatever the obstacles. As soon as the projected results had been pronounced he went live on television to announce his plans.

“Our approach is to accelerate the regional development -- education, infrastructure, disease, give affirmative action to the people of Papua and introduce other policies. I am optimistic that in the next five years we will be able to do many things for a better future.”

But the path to the future will not be smooth. Commentators say that Yudhoyono might find it tough to push his reform programme through parliament.

Although his Democratic Party won three times more votes than previously in the legislative elections in April, it will still be difficult for him to manage the present coalition with its eclectic mix of parties and religious factions.

In the past, the president has been criticised for giving posts to leading politicians from coalition parties to gain their support in parliament. This time, analysts say he will give more posts to technocrats and politicians will be chosen on merit rather than party background.

Author: Anne Thomas
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein