Posted on 09/22/2004 4:38:48 PM PDT by nosofar
The apparent landslide victory of "S.B.Y." (Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) in the Indonesian presidential election is promising. He has a reputation for getting things done; he has no time for Indonesia's Jihadis. He knows that free enterprise within a stable constitutional order is the way out of membership in the "Third World". And he says what he knows, with an uncommon boldness. He is intelligent and articulate (in English as well as Indonesian), and surrounded by advisers who are neither obsequious nor sanctimonious nor infamously corrupt.
(Excerpt) Read more at davidwarrenonline.com ...
Go "S.B.Y."
As a quasi-Indonesian myself (maintining a home there, and married to a beautiful Indonesian woman for almost 30 years), I applaud the Indonesian people for their intelligence and for a political maturity perhaps surprising in a country where this kind of democratic election has been the exception rather than the rule for most of the country's existence.
I should also offer a kind word on the grace in defeat of the PDI-P folks, among whom I number some long-time friends.
SBY's victory margin appears to be heading for something like 24 million out of maybe 120 million votes cast. Folks, SBY has a mandate to take action on three fronts:
First; to revitalize the Indonesian economy
Second; to crush the Islamists, and this is a precondition to success on goal one
Third; to end the endemic corruption that has dogged Indonesia for years. This will be the most difficult task confronting SBY, and progress will be incremental but steady, and will go hand in hand with the restoration of stability and economic progress.
Indonesia should be one of the exemplars for the future of Muslim populations in other parts of the world, and the United States should offer Indonesia its full support.
As a quasi insider, what are your impressions (if any) of SBY's attitude towards Australia?
Given recent history, continuing cooperation between Indonesia is clearly of great importance to those of us residing in Australia.
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