Published: Tuesday October 20, 2009 MYT 2:07:00 PM
Indonesians fed up with crippling graft, poverty
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP): Indonesians expect their re-elected leader, who was sworn in as the nation's sixth president Tuesday, to make greater progress against crippling poverty and corruption in his second five-year term.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 60, won a landslide victory in July elections, bouyed largely by his track record in combatting Islamist terrorists and the prosecution of politicians by the anti-graft commission.
Although the former general oversaw a period of political and financial stability, the new government that will be assembled in coming days faces an uphill battle lifting tens of millions of Indonesians out of abject poverty.
The Muslim-majority nation of 235 million also is regularly ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International, a leading graft watchdog. That negative image and a weak judiciary make it difficult to attract foreign investors.
More than 70 percent of respondents to a September survey by the independent Reform Institute said the economy should be the top priority for the country's new leaders.
Second on the list of public concerns was eradicating corruption in law enforcement, said the survey.
Some 2,550 people took part in the poll in 68 villages across the nation between Sept. 7 and Sept. 15. It had a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
"Rising prices for basic foods and utility bills give me a headache almost every day," said Susanti Maharani, a 41-year-old mother of three who feeds her family on less than $5 per day in the capital, Jakarta.
"SBY must fulfill his campaign pledge to lighten the people's burden," she said referring to the president by his initials.
Yudhoyono "recorded a few achievements in stability of politics and security, but a number of substantive issues - justice, human rights and people's welfare - were not resolved by the end of the term of office," said political analyst Sunny Tanuwidjaja of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A major failure of his administration was the inability to bring to justice the culprits behind the slaying of human rights activist Munir Thalib, who was poisoned on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam five years ago last month, Tanuwidjaja said.
One of the main challenges will be keeping up the campaign against corruption.
The Corruption Eradication Commission and a special anti-corruption court have been undermined by what supporters say is a political attack by police and lawmakers concerned by its far-reaching prosecutorial powers.
"Without real support from his Cabinet ministers and law enforcers in the field, corruption eradication is just a big dream," said Ricky Ilham, 46, an employee at an insurance company.
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