Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has turned to religious leaders for help after being criticized over an international survey that ranked Indonesia as being at risk of becoming a failed state.

Yudhoyono, who just returned home from Mexico and Brazil where he attended the G20 Summit and Rio+20 Earth Summit, respectively, admitted that the world view of Indonesia had worsened, according to Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) secretary-general Ichwan Sam.

"The President told us of his concerns about Indonesia's image in the eyes of the world," Ichwan said after meeting the President at the State Palace on Thursday.

"He said that generally our rapport was good except in three areas: corruption, bureaucracy and homogenous conflict. He told us to help work on these." Ichwan was accompanied by MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin, among others.

"Homogenous conflicts, in particular, have appeared to be intolerant and religious incidents. This is shameful, given that Indonesia has been a model of a good, pluralistic and tolerant nation to the world," he added.

Yudhoyono, who has been shaping his international image during his second presidency, took into account the three elements that he told the ulema were part of the aspects in the 2012 Failed State Index (FSI), a study released to the public earlier this month by noted NGO Fund for Peace.

The study put Indonesia in 63rd place out of 178 countries worldwide, down one position from last year. It categorized Indonesia as being in the "warning" zone toward a failed state.

According to the NGO, among the biggest challenges Indonesia faced were infrastructure development, unemployment, corruption, violence against religious minorities and low quality of education. (mtq)