There are fears the Jakarta bombing has shaken the commitment of President Megawati Sukarnoputri to Indonesia's five year experiment with democracy. Two major terrorist strikes in twelve months has prompted a senior government minister to argue that some of Indonesia's new found civil liberties may have to be sacrificed.

Presenter/Interviewer: Peter Lloyd, Southeast Asia correspondent

Speakers: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's Security Minister; Marty Natalegawa, senior Indonesian government spokesman

Peter Lloyd: The blast is a devastating blow for Indonesia. Having won praise for fighting terrorism after Bali, it's now clear that it hasn't done enough and Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says new national security measures are to be implemented.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: There will be mechinations that people will be able to report to the local police and other government apparatus if they are seeing that uniqueness occur in their surrounding. We will charge intelligence agencies, police, immigration section to conduct a detections operation to be able to detect whether there are terrorist cells that are operating here in Indonesia.

Peter Lloyd: The Minister did not provide further details but he urged Indonesians to be prepared to accept the sort of restrictions that could raise the concerns of human rights campaigners.

For those who fear that some of the freedoms gained during the country's five year experiment with democracy are about to be wound back, there was worse to come.

Senior Foreign Ministry Spokesman Marty Natalegawa was sent out with a message that President Megawati now regards tougher internal security measures as a legitimate trade off in the fight against the threat posed by JI.

Marty Natalegawa: We need to save lives, we need to pre-empt and prevent terrorist attacks. If that means regular liberties that we normally enjoy will have to be somewhat, not curtailed, but looked at and made arrangements for, then it may be worth it, if at least we can save the bigger thing which is democracy itself, which we have just won.

Peter Lloyd: Do you think you can sell that to the Indonesian people?

Marty Natalegawa: We have to sell it, we have no other option, we have to have everyone on board.

This is not a government intent on taking away civil liberties. We have seen on our television screens, it is ordinary Indonesians that have fallen victim to this and you cannot tell them that all this is acceptable for the sake of some certain principles which would not mean much for those who have lost their loved ones as a result of this terrorist act.

Peter Lloyd: Whatever clampdown follows, the government is still a long way from proving its mettle against terrorism. JI may have been dealt a blow by efforts to hunt down operatives after Bali, but the latest blast suggests the fanatics are far from defeated.