Mega's leadership falls short of expectations<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Megawati Soekarnoputri, after one year as President, has affirmed
\npeople's doubts in her inability to be the country's dream
\nleader.<\/p>\n
A year ago today, the country saw a new light when she read
\nout the presidential oath and vowed that she would take
\n\"immediate and concrete actions to defuse the prolonged crisis\".<\/p>\n
Although many doubted her capability as she rarely spoke her
\nmind, most considered her the best choice that the country had to
\nsurvive.<\/p>\n
After one year, it is only natural that many questions have
\narisen such as whether she is really leading the country and
\ntaking concrete actions to free the country from crisis.<\/p>\n
The first months of her tenure were golden, her reserved
\nbehavior an asset that led the country to greater stability.<\/p>\n
\"The President clearly understands that any single statement
\nfrom her could create furor,\" her close confidante Agnita
\nSingadikane Irsal said on Monday.<\/p>\n
The never-talk attitude of the President has appeased critics,
\ntamed the military and pulled the country out of the days of
\ndisorder under former president Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
However, critics say her poised conduct is the only good thing
\nabout her leadership style. But it is also viewed as her
\nweaknesses when it came to her indecisiveness and her lack of
\nawareness of the people's wishes in the name of stability.<\/p>\n
Her political backing of Sutiyoso, a retired general, for his
\nsecond term as Jakarta governor and her move to block a proposed
\ninvestigation into a graft case involving Golkar Party chairman
\nAkbar Tandjung are examples of her disregard for the people's
\nwishes.<\/p>\n
\"She always had her own judgment, while she should have
\nlistened more to the aspirations of the public,\" political
\nobserver from Gadjah Mada University Ichlasul Amal said on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
He emphasized that it was very difficult for the public to
\nunderstand the reasons behind her controversial decisions and
\nonce in a while she should explain her decisions.<\/p>\n
Besides \"wearing an ear plug,\" Megawati is also seen as an
\nindecisive leader. She rarely spells out what she wants and
\nthereby confuses her subordinates.<\/p>\n
Ichlasul said that her indecisiveness was a problem for a
\ncharismatic leader like Megawati as it could confuse people.<\/p>\n
One of her subordinates confirmed this, saying that she often
\ntook too many things into consideration for every single decision
\nand finally chose the one that would save her.<\/p>\n
\"The President always took a long time in deciding something,
\nbecause she does not want to end her presidency in a disgraceful
\nway as her predecessors did,\" one of the President's aides at the
\nState Palace said.<\/p>\n
One clear example is a decree on the state secretariat
\nstructure, that was submitted to her last December, which she has
\nnot signed until now.<\/p>\n
\"She never really says what she wants of the decree,\" the aide
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Megawati's reluctance to sign the decree is apparently because
\nshe does not want to rock the state secretariat.<\/p>\n
In one way, she wants to secure continued support from the
\nbureaucrats.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, people in her own party, the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) are vying for
\nimportant positions such as state secretary, a position currently
\nheld by bureaucrat Bambang Kesowo.<\/p>\n
Aside from political issues, Megawati also rarely gives
\ndirectives on economic issues and often confuses her ministers in
\ntaking steps for economic reforms.<\/p>\n
\"Megawati has no vision or leadership. She does not know which
\npolicy she should take to accelerate economic growth,\" said Didik
\nJ. Rachbini, an economist from the Institute for Development,
\nEconomics and Finance (Indef).<\/p>\n
Her indecisiveness has often caused bureaucratic blunders.<\/p>\n
\"Teamwork among ministers does not work since there is no
\nclear guidance from the President,\" Didik said.<\/p>\n
He cited an example, ministers dealing with small and medium
\nenterprises (SMEs) could not make progressive moves as the
\nPresident has put a presidential decree on SMEs on her waiting
\nlist.<\/p>\n
Seeing the current situation, should Megawati change her
\nleadership style? Ichlasul said: \"How can you change something
\nthat is attached to your personality?\"<\/p>\n
However, he stopped short of saying whether Megawati was the
\nright person to lead the country. \"What we need is a leader that
\ncan be a meeting point of many conflicting interests.\"<\/p>",
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