Editorial: Vaunted Poverty Not SBY's Best Statistic
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono often uses the decline in Indonesia's poverty rate as proof of his administration's success. But approaching the end of his reign, this claim takes a hit.
According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia had 28.55 million people living below the poverty line as of September 2013. That is 480,000 more than in March that same year.
So, instead of working to reduce those numbers, Yudhoyono's government sent nearly half a million people into poverty in just six months.
While officials quickly blamed the unusually high inflation rate, especially the spike in food prices, the government cannot hide behind such technical terms for its failure to carry out two of its most basic duties: ensuring affordable staple food and facilitating a conducive environment for job creation.
The BPS pointed out that the decision to raise subsidized fuel prices by an average of 33 percent in late June last year was the main reason for widespread price hikes.
National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjhabana admitted that programs to mitigate the impact of the fuel price hike had failed, adding that the government's cash-handout program was insufficient to compensate the poor for inflation.
The program to directly give people cash, in our opinion, will never work as it makes people lazy. It is also seen as bribing voters while hiding the government's inability to aid job creation.
Though it is yet to be proven, questions regarding large chunks of money ending up in political parties' hands could turn out to be valid.
The trillions of rupiah saved from the subsidized fuel price hike should instead have been used to help create employment opportunities.
Until Yudhoyono's administration properly carries out these two basic tasks, it will leave office with a questionable report card.
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