Camelia Pasandaran, Bogor, West Java – Attempts to develop Indonesia have "failed" because of five "illnesses" that plague the nation, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday.

Yudhoyono, speaking during the signing of a master plan for the Acceleration and Extension of Indonesian Economic Development at the Bogor Palace, said he had evaluated his six years in office and concluded there were "illnesses and factors that have caused development to fail at the national and regional levels."

He singled out Indonesia's inefficient bureaucracy, which was resistant to implementing decisions. Yudhoyono said that when the president and a minister had arrived at a decision, lower-level officials often disagreed and argued against its implementation.

"Once it has been decided, there should not be any more discourse at the lower levels," he said. "It causes us losses."

The president pointed at the regional governments as being the second illness hampering development.

"For example, a district may have a very good plan agreed to by the governor," he said. "Later, [the implementation] is hampered because of a disagreement with a district head or mayor. It might be accepted if they have a good reason, but if they do not, it hampers investment that could create jobs that could reduce unemployment and drive the local economy."

Yudhoyono has often complained about disharmony between the central and regional governments. Although Yudhoyono's Democratic Party comfortably secured the most votes at the national level, the majority of regional heads come from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party in Struggle (PDI-P) and the loosely aligned Golkar Party.

The third illness was potential investors who had failed to carry through with their pledged commitments, he said.

Fourth, was a flawed legal framework, both at the national and regional levels, he said, adding that this needed to be addressed.

The fifth illness, Yudhoyono said, were unhealthy political interests, again at the national and regional levels.

"Politics should be the solution and should not be translated into limited interests...," Yudhoyono said. "The ones that get nothing are our people."