M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has squandered opportunities that could have made him an effective leader during his two-and-a-half years in office, political observers say.

The Jakarta Post spoke to several political analysts on Thursday. They concurred that the performance of the country's first directly elected president has been mediocre at best. Today marks the mid-way point of his term.

"I give him six out of a maximum 10 points, which means he's average, as the President could have in fact done so many things with a direct mandate from the people... but he has failed to do so," said political analyst Sukardi Rinakit of the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate.

Sukardi said that in almost every quarter, Yudhoyono had achieved little compared to his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"Poverty and unemployment is on the rise, on the issue of Iran's nuclear disarmament Indonesia has been accused of kow-towing to the US government, the Lapindo mudflow continues unabated and the fight against graft is yielding only diminishing returns," he said. Sukardi said the sluggish situation was due to Yudhoyono's "chronic indecisiveness".

"The most glaring example of that indecisiveness concerns the handling of the Lapindo mudflow. He should have decided that the problem would be taken over by the government and seized all the assets of Lapindo as a guarantee," he said.

He said that should Yudhoyono fail to improve his record in the next year, he would face a difficult time seeking reelection.

Political analyst Saiful Mujani of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) agreed with Sukardi, saying that although Yudhoyono had an impressive record in resolving the conflicts in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Papua, he had achieved little in the economy. "Investors still have to go through bureaucratic red tape before they can invest here. Little has changed," Saiful told the Post.

He also said that midway through his term, Yudhoyono's government had failed to achieve an annual growth rate above 6 percent, the figure he aimed to achieve during his campaign. "I give him a four as his score for the economy," Saiful said.

In its latest opinion poll, the LSI found that the job approval rating for Yudhoyono had dropped to 49 percent, the lowest in his entire time in office. Another survey from the Indonesian Survey Circle found that if an election was held today, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) would come first.

Saiful also blamed the government's poor showing on Yudhoyono's lack of resolve in managing state affairs. "On the cabinet shake-up issue for instance, there's just too much politicking. He should just go for it, it's his prerogative," Saiful said.

Analyst Syamsuddin Harris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said that Yudhoyono could risk of becoming a failed president if he did not change his way of handling problems. "He needs to shift gears to work faster and the most important thing is he must return to promises that he made during the election campaign," Syamsuddin was quoted by Antara as saying.