Jakarta (Antara) - The task of a president is tough in view of the huge number of problems to be settled in the country, observed State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan. "In fact, the job of a president is hard, but I don't know why many people want it," he reiterated here on Monday night, during the launch of his biography titled "The Next One." Dahlan Iskan is one of the 11 participants of the ruling Democrat Party convention held to nominate the party's presidential candidate for the election on July 9. Dahlan has indicated several times that he is not interested in seeking the post but he finally agreed to participate in the convention to honor the request of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He explained that Indonesia is currently facing a huge problem in dealing with the poor and the middle-class people. He remarked that the most pressing problems that people expect to be immediately solved are infrastructure, food and others. With regard to infrastructure problems, he pointed out that they are not easy to solve owing to the high number of regions in the country and limited budget sanctions as well as inefficient bureaucracy and disputes between parties. "The middle class people who have enjoyed various facilities will certainly not want to be poor again and therefore they have a lot of demands directly or indirectly through the media including social media," he asserted. He added that it would be impossible to meet the demands of the middle-class and the poor all at once, but priorities will be set due to the limited budget. As an example, he explained that to develop a railroad in a hilly region would indeed require a lot of funds. On the other hand, demand for infrastructure development in the eastern region also has to be met and so, in view of that, priorities have to be set. "The demands of the middle-class and the poor must be categorized because their settlement would be different," he added. (*)


Editor : FAROCHA
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2026