Reflection : A new album? http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/sbys-message-to-the-must-brigade-wait-and-see-what-i-have-achieved/355526
28, 2010 Camelia Pasandaran & Anita Rachman SBY's Message to the 'Must' Brigade: Wait and See What I Have Achieved As President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to solve the nation's power crisis in Banten on Thursday, thousands of demonstrators in Jakarta and around the country decried what they said was his government's failure to improve the people's welfare. Protest organizers said they were happy with the turnout, even though it was far short of what they had hoped for. "We are satisfied as this is a process of revolution, even though it was not organized very well. Some organizations came alone and did their rally without us," said Haris Rusly, head of Petition of 28, an umbrella group of nongovernmental organizations and individuals participating in the demonstrations. "But we think it is successful enough and we see that we can conduct a peaceful rally." The protests were held to coincide with the end of the first 100 days of Yudhoyono's second term. The protesters numbered about 7,000 in Jakarta and up to 1,000 in other big cities. Demonstrators raised a range of issues, chief among them corruption and the Bank Century bailout. They also protested against the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement and what they said was the government's failure to improve the people's welfare. Speaking from Labuan, Banten, where he inaugurated a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant, Yudhoyono said he recognized the people's right to criticize the government. "I know that in Jakarta there are protests, rallies and movements," he said. "In a democracy, this is common." But he argued that many of the protesters didn't really understand the government's immediate aims. "I want to ask whether they really know the 100-days programs," he said. "The programs are like people's favorite music hits. From TV and print media to coffee shops, [they] talked about the 100-days programs according to the versions they favored." He said many people insisted on the principle of "must." "The government 'must' have failed, the president and vice president 'must' step down because after 100 days they failed to increase the people's welfare," he said. "Actually, the 100-days programs are not extraordinary. We only wanted the government to have priorities for this year and for the next five years." "We will soon explain what has and has not been achieved. People can check whether it is true or not. Provisional reports show that most of the programs have been achieved. We have 15 priorities, 45 programs and 129 action plans. If we want to assess the achievements, we should see the goals first," he added. Yudhoyono pointed to the formation of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, reducing the time needed to issue business licenses, and infrastructure developments such as the East Flood Canal as among the successes of the first 100 days. Read more No signs of 1998 Protests a day for some to make a buck Snap, crackle, flop: Demonstrations underwhelm [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
