But not all of the President's new Cabinet pleases reformists. During his first term, SBY's Democratic Party held just 7% of seats in parliament, and he had to stud his Cabinet with political appointees to ensure legislative support. Today, the Democrats control more than a quarter of parliamentary seats. Yet instead of increasing the number of technocrats in his second-term team, SBY doled out just as many party favors this time around, with more than half of Cabinet members political appointees. "There were high expectations that with the President's significant victory he had the mandate to choose better qualified and younger candidates for his Cabinet than last time and not be so dependent on political parties," says Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute, an NGO dealing with pluralism issues. "The reality is different and reflects his interest in protecting himself."
Of course, four-star generals don't get to the top without knowing how to look after themselves -- and their charges. One of SBY's biggest priorities during his first term was overseeing a massive campaign to root out the Islamic militants who had conducted a series of deadly terror attacks since 2002. For four years, calm reigned in Indonesia. Yet just nine days after the President's re-election, fatal bombings at Jakarta hotels shattered any illusion that extremism had been eradicated. Raids on terror hideouts resulted in the killing of Noordin Top, the Malaysian militant who is believed to have orchestrated the bombings. But questions remain about how Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist managed to crisscross Indonesia with ease for years -- and whether the authorities did enough to try to nab him.
The President will also have to redouble efforts to build, build, build. In 2005 and '06, SBY presided over glitzy infrastructure summits in which more than 100 projects were trumpeted. Yet little movement has occurred on any of these initiatives, which included badly needed transportation fixes. "I have to admit we faced many weaknesses at the time when we convened the infrastructure summits, including the readiness of the provinces," says SBY. "But this time around we are much better prepared." A concerted construction campaign will be needed if Indonesia is to reach SBY's ambitious 7%-plus growth targets. Southeast Asia's largest economy escaped the worst of the global financial crisis in part because its economy was girded by domestic demand, not an export-oriented strategy. Miles of new roads and sea links to better connect this far-flung archipelago will fire that internal growth engine. Otherwise, Indonesia's economy could slow to a crawl -- and few commuters in Jakarta will be willing to spend their rupiah on posters of their smiling second-term President.
