Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – The Indonesian Survey Circle on Wednesday gave President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet failing grades in most fields of policymaking.
The cabinet was given four red marks and two blue marks for its performance, indicating majority disapproval and approval respectively.
The survey showed that those questioned believed the performance of Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono was weak in the fields of international relations, economy, law enforcement, and politics, but good enough when it came to peace and safety and social issues.
In the survey, conducted on Oct. 1, 1,000 people from 100 districts and municipalities in 33 provinces were questioned.
Only 42.6 percent of respondents were satisfied with the government's maintenance of international relations, LSI researcher Agus Budi Prasetyohadi told the Jakarta Globe.
"Cases like the ones involving Indonesian domestic workers being tortured abroad, Indonesian fishermen being arrested in Malaysia, Malaysia's claim on expressions of Indonesian culture and bad handling of these cases on the part of the government contributed to the dissatisfaction," Agus said.
Spats regularly erupt between Indonesia and Malaysia over an array of issues, particularly Malaysia's treatment of the some two million Indonesians who work there. In September, a 26-year-old Indonesian woman was reportedly raped and scalded with an iron by her Malaysian employers.
Critics lament the Indonesian government's role in the diplomatic row involving Malaysia's arrest of Indonesian navy patrol officers who were detaining Malaysian fishermen believed to be fishing in Indonesian waters.
Also, most respondents aired dissatisfaction with the fact that dozens of people have died or were injured by explosions of subsidized three-kilogram gas canisters.
Millions of these canisters were distributed by state-owned oil company Pertamina as part of a government plan to reduce subsidies for kerosene. The survey showed that 76.1 percent of respondents were afraid of using gas canisters.
In regard to law enforcement, 50.5 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the government's performance, believing for instance that "the government has failed to protect minority groups such as Ahmadiyah," Agus said.
The year has seen several attacks against members of the minority Islamic sect, the latest on Oct. 1 when of a mob of some 200 people burned and looted homes, schools and a mosque in the village of Cisalada, Bogor, home to about 600 Ahmadiyah members.
Coming to politics, 50.8 percent of respondents were not satisfied – the most obvious case being the Bank Century scandal, widely believed to have caused former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani's resignation.
Before she left for a job with the World Bank, Mulyani mentioned "a marriage of two political sides [that] will not uphold the public's needs," likely referring to dealings between Yudhoyono and Golkar leader Aburizal Bakrie. The SBY-Boediono cabinet needs to choose more competent ministers, who are better able to address the people's needs, Agus said.
"And it's also time for SBY to call on Boediono to step to the fore more regularly."