The Indonesian press has hailed the swearing in of the country's new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and called on the nation to give him time to prove his mettle.
Yudhoyono and Vice-President elect Yusuf Kalla were sworn in on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by several foreign heads of state, making his first policy address shortly afterwards and announcing his cabinet lineup close to midnight.
Hopes have been high for the new government after strong election promises to eradicate the endemic graft which has scared away foreign investment needed to revitalise the country's economy.
"The question on the tip of the tongue of almost every Indonesian, now that the first burst or euphoria is over, is whether the new president will be able to live up to the expectations," the Jakarta Post said in its editorial. Although it said Yudhoyono's first address offered nothing "unusual, dramatic or even sensational," it was nevertheless a delivery of reassurances aimed at both the Indonesian public and the international community.
In his speech the new president promised to personally lead the war on corruption as well as vowing to get tough on terrorists.
The staid Kompas newspaper exhorted Indonesia's government and people to work hard to fulfill the nation's hopes for a better future, but cautioned that patience was needed for change to occur.
The Koran Tempo newspaper hailed the new cabinet lineup as the result of a high level of compromise, balancing effectivity and the need to accommodate political parties which had supported his presidential bid.
It said that the new cabinet lineup, "gives the image that changes will take place, but in the slow lane, not in the tollway as had been dreamed." "Therefore, it would be a wise stance to give President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his ministers time to prove their performance," it said.
The Muslim-oriented Republika daily said that 100 days was too short a time to expect drastic changes to be brought about by the new government, as many have demanded. "But within 100 days, there must be fundamental signs towards improvement," it said.
The Bisnis Indonesia newspaper hailed both the swearing in of the new leadership – the country's first to be democratically elected – and the announcement of the cabinet lineup as "two important historical events". The business-oriented newspaper however, expressed worries that the composition of ministers in the economic field would cause "anxiety among the business players".
It did not question the professionalism of the ministers in the economic field but aired worries that "these names are known to be difficult to cooperate and coordinate among each other".