|
Profile
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has enjoyed a distinguished career in the
military and politics.
But the former officer known as the thinking general, because of his intellectual bent, gained international attention
last October with a speech remembering the victims of the terrorist bombings in Bali.
Mr. Yudhoyoho condemned the 2002 attacks and promised to deal harshly with terrorists. "Make no mistake, we
will hunt them, we will find them. We will bring them to justice. These diabolical men and their friends of evil
simply have no place in our society," he said. "They belong to our darkest dungeon locked away deep beneath
our children's playgrounds."
Indonesian authorities, initially slow to admit the country had been infiltrated by the Islamic terrorist group,
Jemaah Islamiyah, have been swift to try and convict more than a dozen J.I. members who carried out the Bali bombings.
Although Mr. Yudhoyono served with distinction in the military and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General, he was
never included in the inner circle of high ranking commanders and received his fourth star only upon retirement.
A regional security specialist with Australia's Defense Force
Academy, Carl Thayer, says Mr. Yudhoyono was always the man in the background but that has changed.
"Yudhoyono has reinvented himself, particularly on terrorism and on relations with external powers, particularly
with Australia," said Mr. Thayer. "He's shown himself to be a much more pragmatic leader than the current
administration and previous presidents."
Upon retiring from the military, Mr. Yudhoyono was appointed chief minister for security in the governments of
Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri.
He was dismissed from the Wahid government after he refused to back emergency measures to prevent Mr. Wahid's impeachment.
And he left the Megawati government after being publicly insulted for complaining about being excluded from the
president's inner circle.
These setbacks, however, helped Mr. Yudhoyono build a strong candidacy as a new voice that would provide strong
but fair leadership to the vast archipelago's 210 million people. He also offered hope that he would address economic
problems and fears of instability.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was born in the town of Pacitan, in
eastern Java Island, on September 9, 1949. The son of an army lieutenant, he graduated from Indonesia's military
academy in 1973. He received advanced military training in the United States and Europe. He rose through the ranks
to become Chief Military Observer of the United Nations Peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Chief of Territorial
Affairs of the Indonesian military before retiring in 2000. Mr. Yudhoyono was sometimes criticized as indecisive
and too willing to compromise.
However, because of these traits he avoided being identified with the abuses leveled at some senior commanders
during the military-backed rule of authoritarian former President Suharto. And his charisma and speaking ability
endeared him to many Indonesian citizens.
Mr. Yudhoyono is pledging to redress the Indonesian economy, which has failed to recover from the Asia economic
crisis of seven years ago, and he is pledging to combat corruption, a major drain on economic prosperity.
Mr. Yudhoyono also says he will uphold democratic principles, but at the same time pledges to use firm measures
to confront instability, insurrection and international terrorism.
|
