VP OPTIMISTIC ABOUT OBAMA'S ABILITY TO IMPROVE US ECONOMY

Jakarta, Nov 5 (ANTARA) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed optimism that Barack Obama who has won the US presidential poll will be able to improve the US economy.
"He (Obama) surely can improve the US economy. If he is really good, he can do it in a year. Otherwise, he can do it in two or three years," Kalla said at the vice presidential palace here on Wednesday.
The vice president made the remark when he was asked to comment on US economic improvement following Obama's victory in the country's presidential election.
Kalla said the US was now in a historically unprecedented situation, it was down in both economic and political terms. In the past, there were times it was economically in trouble but politically strong or the other way round. But now it was going through an economic as well as political crisis.
It was all the result of President George W Bush's policies, Kalla said.
Kalla said if the United States improved its economy, it would have a positive impact on the world's economic recovery, including Indonesia's.
In another part of his statement, Kalla congratulated Obama on winning his country's presidential poll.
"As we have expected and predicted Obama's victory, we have to congratulate him," Kalla said.
The vice president said Obama's landslide and surprising victory in the US presidential election had actually been predicted by people around the world but what had not been expected was the wide margin by which he won the votes.
Asked what lesson could be taken from Obama's victory, Kalla said it showed that there would be no minority group in the world and in the United States alone the minority has been wiped out.
"His victory means that we will no longer talk about race, ethnic groups, and colors," Kalla said.