Indonesian President's Phone Plan Backfires

If the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, thought he could get closer to his people by giving out his mobile phone number and inviting complaints, then he seriously miscalculated the scale of the nation's discontent.

"If you think [we] don't care, never come to you and your problems are left unsettled, my cellular phone is active 24 hours a day," he was quoted yesterday as saying at a small gathering of farmers on Saturday afternoon.

But as soon as Mr Yudhoyono gave out his number - +62 811 109 949 for those outside Indonesia - the media started broadcasting it nationwide.

Within minutes the presidential mobile was inundated with calls and text messages, and by yesterday morning the flood of complaints had become so great that the service was overwhelmed.

"We're now looking at a system which can accommodate more messages," said a presidential spokesman. "If we change the number of course we will announce it."

Callers to one radio chat show welcomed the president's initiative but suggested it might be easier if he had an email address as well.