Asia Times: Megawati stakes her claim to leadership



	July 31, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Megawati stakes her claim to leadership

JAKARTA - In a spirited speech, Megawati Sukarnoputri has called on Indonesian President Bacharuddin Habibie to step down as soon as possible, saying his continuation in office contradicts the will of the people.

After months of near silence by Megawati, the speech - aired on national television - has raised the political temperature in Indonesia. But while some said the speech showed her development into a leader, others said it was an attempt to rebut criticism of her gender, ability to rule, and experience.

In the past weeks, Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, has come under fire from groups like the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), which said it would only support a male presidential candidate for religious reasons. Until now, the PPP has been in the reformist camp along with Megawati's Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDI-P), National Mandate Party, National Awakening Party and Star-Crescent Party. Several Muslim-oriented parties have joined the chorus favoring a male presidential candidate for this mainly Muslim nation.

Until Thursday, the 57-year-old Megawati, whose party won 34 percent of the vote in the June election, remained mostly silent. Her speech, in which she laid down her views on issues ranging from East Timor to corruption, came as a relief to her supporters.

''You see, she does have her own view on things. She understands the wishes of the majority of Indonesians. She has affection for people's suffering,'' said Matori Abdul Djalil, chairman of the National Awakening Party.

But Eep Syaefullah Fatah, a political expert at the University of Indonesia, says Megawati was less than completely honest by laying claim to the presidency, knowing full well that no one party received a clear majority in the June parliamentary election. ''She proclaimed PDI-P as the winner of the election, but she did not explain that it gained only 34 percent of the votes.''

The next president will be selected by the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly in November, and both Megawati and Habibie are vying for the position.

''I've been silent for some time because I want to learn carefully which groups are pro-status quo and which are anti-status quo,'' Megawati said. ''Now I know the situation. Now it is time for me to speak out.''

Megawati said her silence was ''part of my political strategy.'' One Jakarta student commented: ''I am not convinced. When seven students were shot dead, she was silent. Was that a political strategy? When scores of Indonesian Chinese women were raped, she was silent. Was that a political strategy? And when scores [died] in Ambon, Aceh, East Timor?''

Megawati pledged that if she becomes Indonesia's leader, she will put an end to human rights abuses in the provinces of Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor. She said she would respect the UN-administered referendum on East Timor's future, but slammed Habibie for allowing such a change affecting national sovereignty to take place without the consent of parliament.

''Habibie's decision was in contempt of the 1978 People's Consultative Assembly decree, which stipulates East Timor is Indonesia's province,'' she said.

While attacking many of the policies of the Habibie government, Megawati also sought to placate some of the fears raised over the prospect of her presidency.

She vowed to fight for Muslim interests - an attempt to address criticism that she was ''not Muslim enough.'' She proclaimed: ''The Muslim community is the majority in this country. To fight for them is to fight for the nation. I have ordered PDI-P legislators to put Muslim interests high on their agenda.''

During the election campaign, Megawati had supported non-Muslim legislative candidates as well as Muslims. While this was welcomed by some sectors, certain Muslim groups took exception.

On other issues, Megawati said: ''I have been, and will remain, in the forefront of the 'reformasi' movement. My view on the likely amendment of the constitution, the political role of the military, and trial of former president Suharto is the view of a reformist.''

Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party and a potential rival, said there was nothing new in Megawati's speech. ''It was not even clear on issues like the trial of Suharto, East Timor and the role of the military.''

Others say the military's strategic position in parliament - which could affect the outcome of the vote for president - is forcing Megawati to cooperate with military interests. The military has 38 of the 450 parliamentary seats. There is talk that Megawati secured the military's support in a recent meeting with military chief and Defense Minister General Wiranto. In her speech, she did not criticize the military for abuses in Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor.

''Megawati's statement on these crucial issues is similar to the military's line of thinking,'' said an analyst. ''That's also the reason she is now daring to demand that Habibie step down.''

Many believe Habibie suffered a major political blow from Thursday's speech. ''With so many noted and influential figures attending the speech, a psychological attitude has been created among the public that Megawati is now a legitimate leader of Indonesia - and that Habibie's time, long deemed an extension of Suharto's era, is over,'' said Marzuki Darusman, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights.

Megawati warned that because the present government lacks legitimacy, it should not make strategic and binding policies without consulting the parties which represent the majority of votes in the June poll. ''I should make it clear that the present government is transitional in nature. Its main task is to hold the election and facilitate the process of transition of power to a new government,'' she stated.

(Inter Press Service)

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