Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono faced criticism at home for his recent decision in providing clemency for convicted drug dealers which critics say breaches the president's own commitment in fighting illegal distribution of narcotics, local media reported on Monday.

Legislator from the prominent political party in the parliament, the Golkar Party, Bambang Soesatyo said that the recent decision by President Yudhoyono was contradictory in light of a policy speech made in his first term in office in which he vowed to take a hard line on drug offenders.

"The president has now gone back on his word. The president's attitude and stance on fighting drug-trafficking syndicates inside the country is growing ever more inconsistent," he said over the weekend.

In a July 1, 2006, speech to mark International Anti-Drug Day, Yudhoyono said he constantly received requests for clemency for drug offenders sentenced to death.

"But the chief justice of the Supreme Court and I would obviously choose to save our people and our nation, including saving the current and the younger generations, over granting clemency to those who would destroy their future," the president said at the time.

Since then, however, the president has reneged on this commitment in a number of high-profile cases, Bambang said.

Last week, the State Palace announced that Yudhoyono commuted the death sentence of Deni Setia Maharwa, convicted for his involvement in an international drug syndicate, to life imprisonment.

Deni was attempting to smuggle 3.5 kilograms of heroin and three kilograms of cocaine to London in 2000.

In May, Yudhoyono granted a five-year sentence cut for Australian drug convict Schapelle Corby, whose case has attracted significant media attention since her conviction in 2005, the Jakarta Globe reported.

She was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to smuggle more than four kilograms of marijuana into Bali.

Both decisions were also called into question by the National Narcotics Agency. The agency argued that the decisions set a bad precedent in the fight against drugs, which cost the state some 40 trillion rupiah (about $4.2 billion) per year in enforcement and rehabilitation expenses.

The decision on Deni was also viewed disapprovingly by the Indonesian Supreme Court, which stated at the time, "There were not enough reasons for granting clemency and therefore we recommended that the request for clemency be rejected."

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri said on Sunday that countless people have died because of drug abuse. "So is it appropriate to reduce the sentences of the very dealers who sold the drugs?"