In focus for wrong reasons

The first 100 days of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second term in office have made the governance of democratic Indonesia appear cumbersome.

It went wrong early on when a number of unanticipated battlegrounds that weren't even the president's own choices seized public interest: the investigation into the Bank Century bailout and the criminal charges from the office of the Attorney General and the police against top officials of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Indonesia's main investigative watchdog.

Whereas the first battleground has mainly become a showcase for parliamentarian theatrics, the latter has severely blemished Yudhoyono's image as a fighter against corruption.

Critics have therefore decried Yudhoyono's meekness in defending the commission and his refusal to sack Attorney General Hendarman Supandji and Head of the National Police Bambang Hendarso Danuri (one should add here that parliamentarians were equally coy in their stance).

The result is that, in the words of Teten Masduki, chief coordinator of the Indonesia Corruption Watch group, "Yudhoyono has allowed the weakening of anti-corruption institutions that were already effective". After remarkable progress during the president's first tenure, the fight against corruption is now in danger of stagnation. While 2009's Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index score is slightly better than that of the previous year, Indonesia remains a prominent member of the world's most corrupt countries.

To be fair, Yudhoyono's current administration did tackle a number of important issues which, however, went largely unnoticed behind the media frenzy surrounding Bank Century and the turf war between KPK and police. As reported by the Jakarta Globe daily, among the projects completed during Yudhoyono's first 100 days are a flood-control dam in Medan, the Cilaki bridge in West Java, the Amplas flyover in North Sumatra; the Oerip Sumahardjo overpass in South Sulawesi; the Benel dam in Bali, public housing projects in West and Central Java; and several water-treatment plants.

Last Tuesday, in an early reaction to expected criticism of his 100-day record, the president inaugurated ten state-backed infrastructure projects in five provinces.

All this leads to the feeling that Indonesia keeps making headlines for the wrong reasons. In many cases, this has been the result of Yudhoyono's administration's own decisions and policies, as in the international media's indignant emphasis on the "anti-pornography" bill. The bill, which became effective in late 2008, bans, among other things, public displays which can be seen as arousing sexual feelings.

Last year this stirred local dance groups to publicly call on Indonesians not to vote for Islamist parties in April's parliamentary elections. The crux, however, remains that the porn bill was supported by nationalist parties like the President's own Democrat Party as well and eventually signed by the president himself. While it is now effective law, implementation has been very spotty and random. Most recently, four women were arrested for "sexy dancing" at a party at New Year's Eve in a club in Bandung (West Java's Sudanese culture seems particularly affected by the bill). The manager of the venue and the event organiser were also detained. The Bandung incident remains an exception given that there are countless bars and clubs which have remained unaffected.

Nevertheless, the Yudhoyono administration must be accounted, too, as it has been caving in to Islamist pressure for some time, allowing organisations such as Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) a greater public role. In the case of the Bank Century, it is a scandal carried over from the president's first term. In the confrontation involving the KPK, the president opted to save the offices of the police and the attorney general at the expense of the KPK's repute. His administration therefore has to take part of the blame that Indonesia is too often in the international headlines for the wrong reasons, possibly diverting from important achievements in other areas.

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Bernhard Platzdasch is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.