Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has taken his ministers to task for doing exactly what critics have frequently accused him of: staying silent on pressing issues.

"I really hope you – as part of the government – become more diligent and proactive in responding to issues," the president said on Monday during a cabinet meeting. "Don't hide, don't stay silent and don't think you can avoid trouble. That's just wrong."

Yudhoyono's call comes amid a recent wave of public criticism of government policies and institutions, especially the system of sentence cuts for prisoners, including corruption convicts, which critics say is too lenient.

"We do our job according to the prevailing regulations, so when an issue is raised by the public in the media or other forums, I expect you to respond rationally, professionally and proportionately," he said.

Yudhoyono said the issue of prison sentence cuts had grown out of hand because of the late official response to it.

"I notice that on some issues you take up to four days to respond, and sometimes the response is inadequate," he said.

"This shouldn't be happening in the case of remissions, because we acted according to the rules, and this is what you should have made clear."

The issue came to the fore last week when it was revealed that former Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Aulia Pohan, serving a three-year sentence for embezzling Rp 100 billion ($11.2 million) from the central bank, was handed a remission and a day later released on parole. Aulia is the father-in-law of Yudhoyono's eldest son.

The president also highlighted recent border tensions with Malaysia and demonstrations against the suspiciously large bank accounts linked to several high-ranking police officers.

"Your job is to clarify these things for the public, to put it in the right context," he said. "Our's is a democracy in which the people have the right to criticize us, but we also have the right to offer an explanation."

Yudhoyono called on his ministers to offer their explanations through print, electronic and online media in order to reach the most people. "I shouldn't be the one explaining everything," he said.

Yudhoyono, who has long been criticized for his indecisiveness, said he was now keeping abreast of pressing issues by following Twitter posts.