Indonesian President Pledges Reforms If Re-Elected

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a gathering of his Democrat Party on Sunday he would push ahead with reforms if he won a second term in this year's elections.

The 59-year-old former general, seen as the most pro-business and pro-reform of Indonesia's presidential candidates, needs to win a strong mandate in order to have the power to overhaul the judiciary, civil service, and police, and deal with the impact of a global economic slowdown.

Yudhoyono's Democrat Party, a centrist party which won just 7.5 percent of the votes in 2004, is well ahead of its more established rivals in the run-up to the April 9 parliamentary elections which will determine which parties can field presidential candidates

An opinion poll last month showed 23 percent of those surveyed would vote for the Democrat Party, potentially reducing the need to rely on several other parties in a coalition.

Yudhoyono also has a strong lead over former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, seen as his main rival in the July 8 presidential elections.

So far, Yudhoyono has refused to say who will he pick as his vice president, but if his Democrat Party wins more than 25 percent of the votes, some analysts predict Yudhoyono will dispense with his former running mate, Jusuf Kalla of the Golkar party, and could even go for a reformer such as his finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Indrawati, a technocrat and former IMF official, has won praise for her efforts to shake up the notoriously corrupt customs and tax departments, but has been less successful in taking on some of Indonesia's most powerful tycoons.

"Politics will heat up and the competition is going to be tougher," said Yudhoyono, addressing nearly 2,000 Democrat Party members who had gathered in Jakarta for the start of a two-day conference to discuss election strategy.

"If we win and succeed, then what we have gained in this current government will be continued and improved. If we win, things that we haven't achieved we will keep on fighting to achieve."

Yudhoyono, who is often called by his initials, SBY, won Indonesia's first direct presidential election in 2004 on promises to tackle graft, improve growth, and create jobs in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

While he has delivered on some of those promises, the fact that his Democrat Party has had to rely on the support of various other parties in parliament has forced him to compromise on many issues and limited his ability to effect sweeping changes.

The economy expanded 6.3 percent in 2007, the highest growth in over a decade, and grew a further 6 percent last year, while dozens of top officials have been investigated and jailed for graft by Indonesia's corruption eradication agency.

But Indonesia still performs well below its potential, as investors are deterred by its endemic corruption, red tape, and labour laws, while many ordinary Indonesians complain they are no better off.

"We are in line with SBY's platform, that is pro-growth, pro-job, pro-poor," said Anas Urbaningrum, the political head of Democrat Party central board, during the conference.

With 15-20 percent of voters still undecided, the Democrat Party has launched an aggressive media campaign extolling the party's achievements, while members are going door-to-door.