Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Preface
iii
Brighten Press
iv
Contents
I. Introduction 1
II. Change for The Better 3
III. Prosperity 6
IV. Peace 15
V. Justice and Democracy 21
VI.What I Believe in 30
Q & A 33
Article 39
I
Introduction
II
Change for The Better
In the past few weeks, I have been campaigning throughout Indonesia to speak
about one thing : perubahan or change.
And I have to admit, I am amazed to
see how this theme of change has struck
a cord with the tens of thousands of
Indonesians I met on the road, from Jakarta
to Medan, Lombok to Kupang, Semarang
to Pandeglang. The millions of votes that
Partai Demokrat has received from all over
the country is a testament to the peoples
yearning for perubahan, for change.
This years vote results tell us that
Indonesians have not changed their minds
about reformasi. What they are telling us is
that they continue to have faith in reformasi, but they are worried that the prom-
III
Prosperity
There is no doubt that Indonesia is recovering from the financial crisis which began
in 1997.We welcome the macro-economic stability which now characterizes our
economy. Our GDP growth is expected to
be 4.5 per cent, inflation is a modest 5 per
cent, and the budget deficit is less than 2
per cent of GDP.
But we must give credit where credit is
due, and the recovery is underway largely
because of ordinary Indonesians, who,
despite painful economic reforms, continued their small businesses and generated
consumer spending that is boosting the
economy.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the
way, a disconnect happened.The macro-
indicators are not mirrored in the microeconomic picture. People are complaining
that the costs of basic education have risen
sharply. So have the costs of telephone
calls, electricity, construction materials.
Clearly, the big numbers are not reflected
down to the small people.
And concerns about legal certainty and
reduced competitiveness have prevented
foreign direct investment from coming in
great numbers.
There is therefore something artificial
about the prosperity that we are seeing
now. Despite the macro-economic numbers, the feel good factor is not there.
While we are certainly better off today
than we were three years ago, the question
is: why are we not MUCH better off today
than we should be?
We need higher growth of at least 7
per cent, because it is only with higher
growth that we can improve the welfare of
our people, provide them better education,
and better healthcare. These are the foundations of our future and our childrens
future.
I am fully aware that my critics sometimes say that I make nice-sounding
speeches about my vision for change but
do not have the plans and programs to
back them up. But I am here before you to
present some of my plans should I become
President. I am here to talk about concrete
measures, and not just ideas and ideals.
For example, with unemployment
reaching 10 per cent in some regions,
Indonesia needs more jobs. As President, I
will support more small and medium business enterprises, because they will provide
more jobs to our communities. My government policies will be friendlier to small
businesses because they have been the
engine of our economic recovery so far;
we need to provide better credit lines for
them so that their enterprises can succeed.
And we need to better teach local govern-
10
11
12
13
gration.
I say this because I am constantly
haunted by the faces I see at campaign rallies. The faces of poor families desperate
for a government that will listen to their
pleas for help. It is for them that I continue with my campaign. It is for them that I
aim to make economic recovery my number one priority in my first hundred days
in office.
14
IV
Peace
15
16
17
18
19
20
V
Justice and Democracy
I am very much aware that justice is perhaps the most difficult part of my vision,
but without justice, peace and prosperity
will be hard to come by. Yet even in other
countries, even in the most developed
nations, justice is an elusive ideal.
That does not mean that we should
stop trying. Indonesia suffers from the lack
of justice in so many ways. Our nation
continues to be plagued by corruption and
extortion. Ordinary Indonesians have long
learned the hard way that the law sides
with the powerful rather than with them.
Foreign investors have seen once too often
that regulations are not written in stone,
and that at times there is little protection
against greedy officials.
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
VI
What I Believe in
30
31
Page A2
Q&A
33
34
35
36
Military reform
I led 38 generals to draw a blueprint and
I led two years of military reforms. The
37
38
Page 4
Laying out his vision, he cites his years of experience to back his claim that he is best placed to
lead his country forward
By DERWIN PEREIRA
INDONESIA BUREAU CHIEF
43