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Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Born: Pacitan, East Java,
Sept. 9, 1949
Religion: Islam
Education: Indonesia Armed Forces Academy [Akabri], 1973

Career Highlights:
Chief of Sriwijaya Military Command, 1996-97
Chief of Staff for Social and Political Affairs
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, 1999
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, 2000-01

Current Position Held:
President of Indonesia, 2004-present

The Democratic Party’s gains in this year’s legislative elections ­— up from just 8 percent of the popular vote in 2004 to 20.6 percent last April 9 — could be seen as a victory for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the party’s captain.

The 59-year-old former general has not had an easy presidency, often described as tumultuous, marred by separatist uprisings in Aceh and Papua, violent sectarian conflicts in Poso and Maluku, increasing oil and food prices, and a series of natural calamities, including one of the world’s worst disasters — the Indian Ocean tsunami that ravaged the northwestern tip of Sumatra in December 2004, which struck just a few months after he took office.

Yudhoyono is widely seen as having succeeded against those trials. But not everyone is thrilled with his choice of Boediono, labeled by some as a neo-liberalist and a secular economist, as his running mate. Days before he announced his presidential bid at the Bandung Institute of Technology on May 15, the country’s rumor mills had already churned out public headlines commenting on his vice presidential candidate.

“Say no to Boediono, yes to Budi Anduk,” read a banner emblazoned along Bandung’s main drag. Budi Anduk is a rising TV comedian.
But the Democrat’s allies remained locked in a coalition, despite initial misgivings with the choice — possible evidence that Yudhoyono’s political sway has remained intact.

Before picking Boediono, Yudhoyono was widely expected to remain entangled with his vice president and sometimes rival Jusuf Kalla. But Kalla broke ranks and announced he would make a play for the top post.

Kalla’s quick judgment and actions contrasted strongly with Yudhoyono’s style, described by many as too cautious, sometimes to the point of indecisiveness.

Though Kalla was a vanguard in the push for peace talks with the exiled leadership of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Yudhoyono redoubled calls for a peaceful end to nearly three decades of violence in the troubled province. Yudhoyono is also seen as having played a critical role in the signing of the peace pact in Helsinki in August 2005, ending a bloody conflict that claimed over 10,000 lives.

The move was meant in large part to clear the way for vital international aid to pour into the previously closed-off region following the devastating tsunami.

His decision to open up Aceh and the government’s quick response, including the setting up of a special state agency tasked with the reconstruction of Aceh and Nias, which was struck by an earthquake in March 2005, earned him significant praise. But reviews of the initial emergency response were mixed, with critics raising concerns that sluggish bureaucracy and a lack of coordination hampered reconstruction. Watchdog groups later accused the reconstruction body of graft and mismanagement.

Skyrocketing oil prices, which shot to $140 per barrel in mid-2008, forced Yudhoyono to reconsider promises to avoid further fuel prices hikes. He cut the country’s costly subsidies in May 2008, and ended up raising fuel prices a total of 200 percent. The move was tempered with cash assistance for the poor. He later rolled fuel prices back, after crude oil prices sank when the global financial crisis struck last October.

Other schemes implemented during his term include funds for school operations, a program to increase energy self-reliance in rural areas and loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Although the plans drew some praise, implementation was in some cases marred by irregularities.

His biofuel program floundered in the face of planning problems and several embarrassing schemes were abandoned, such as a “blue energy” program to generate energy from water, and a “super rice” agricultural innovation. Both turned out to be scams.

Perhaps the most striking failure of his term is his inability to provide a workable solution to the East Java mudflow case. His government is considered to have fallen short in efforts to forge a settlement between thousands of displaced victims and a drilling company linked to one of his top ministers, Aburizal Bakrie. Another weak point is his failure to comply with the Constitution and firmly protect religious minorities from the attacks of Muslim hard-liners.

But polls have indicated that Yudhoyono has enjoyed a surge in popularity over the last five years, despite those shortcomings, and that his image as a capable president is resilient.

Out of a total of 23 parties that formed a coalition with the Democrats, four of them — the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) — are key allies with seats in the newly elected 2009-14 House of Representatives.

Kafil Yamin

Boediono
Born: Blitar, East Java, Feb. 25, 1943
Religion: Islam
Education:
Bachelor of Economics (Hons.), University of Western Australia, 1967
Master of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, 1972
Doctor of Philosophy, Business Economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1979
Career Highlights:
Lecturer at the Gadjah Mada University, director of Bank Indonesia’s People’s Loan Bank [BPR], 1996-97
Director of Bank Indonesia’s Monetary Control, 1997-98
State Minister of National Development Planning, 1998-99
Minister of Finance, 2001-04
Coordinating Minister for the Ecomony, 2005-09

Current Position Held:
None. Governor of Bank Indonesia, May 17, 2008-May 14, 2009

Some people see Boediono, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s wily running mate in the 2009 presidential election, as a subscriber of neo-liberalism and bosom buddies with the International Monetary Fund.

Others blame him for the 1997 Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) case, which caused around Rp 600 trillion ($58.8 billion) in state losses. The scheme was signed by all members of the central bank’s board of directors at the time, including him.

Does the neo-liberalist shoe fit? And is he really in bed with the IMF?

Faisal Basri, an independent economist and columnist, does not buy in to the rumors.

“If you go to Boediono’s house in Mampang Prapatan, Jakarta, near my office, you will see a modest residence with holes in the chairs. I can’t imagine how and why some people accused him being a neo-liberalist and an IMF crony,” said Faisal, who does not know Boediono personally, in May.

Faisal said Boediono is honest, clean and humble. “He is a person with a very rare personality in this country,” Faisal said.

Faisal said he saw examples of Boediono’s humility on two occasions. When Boediono served as Minister of Finance, they shared a flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta. At the airport, Faisal said he saw Boediono’s wife, Herawati, pick him up in their old car instead of an ostentatious SUV with a driver and entourage.

Another time, when Boediono was serving as Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Faisal saw Boediono pushing a shopping cart with his wife in a supermarket — there were assistants or bodyguards in sight. Just Boediono and his wife in a supermarket.

Kwik Kian Gie, a senior economist and former state minister for national development planning, is outspoken about accusations that Boediono was responsible in the BLBI case. The bad blood between Kwik and Boediono goes back to their time serving as ministers in the cabinet.

When summoned as a witness in the BLBI case in 2002, Boediono said the scheme that he had signed in 1997 was a government policy to rescue the country’s banking sector. Bank Indonesia, at the time an arm of the government, was forced to take emergency measures to save the banking sector.

Boediono has a reputation among journalists as being a gentle, egalitarian public servant. He smiles and does not dodge the press. He answers all questions, maintains a sense of humor, and is not afraid to say he does not know.

Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, said Yudhoyono chose Boediono as his running mate to help free the country of foreign debts incurred because of the global economic crisis.

Arbi said though this is the first time Boediono has run for political office, he would be a good adviser for helping the country bounce back from the global crisis.

He said though the House of Representatives initially appeared to resist the choice, lawmakers would eventually warm to the Yudhoyono-Boediono ticket.

“I am sure the lawmakers will finally have no doubt that Yudhoyono and Boediono will be able to soften the impact of the global economic crisis on the country, an important issue for the present and in the long run,” he said.

During a meeting with Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party and coalition members in Jakarta on May 30, Boediono said he was ready for the political arena because of he shared with his running mate a vision for clean government.

“I read Yudhoyono’s biography and I compared it to mine. We both came from ordinary people. By God’s desire, and by our own efforts on our life’s journey, we have been able to pass various phases in our life. Only in a country like Indonesia, can sons from ordinary families achieve a higher stage in their life. My aims are to assist Yudhoyono in repaying everything the country has given me for the rest of my life,” he said.

Ferry Irwanto