President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who asked Indonesians frustrated by bureaucratic red tape or inept officials to call him directly or send him a text message, found his phone line jammed almost immediately.

(Thanks, Ladi!)

A bid by Indonesia’s first directly elected president to be closer to his people by publicizing his mobile phone number backfired over the weekend, after thousands of calls crashed the line.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the number on Saturday and said anyone could call or send text messages if they wanted to complain about government services.

By Monday, Indonesian newspapers were carrying stories of people complaining they could not get through. Local media reported more than 3,000 calls had been made to the number.

“The number is now clogged and cannot be used anymore. The president said there should be five more numbers, but we need to install a new computerized system first,” said presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng.