Megawati must change her leadership management<\/p>\n
Susanto Pudjomartono, Editor-At-Large, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The traditional 100-day honeymoon is not yet over, but
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri's government is already on the
\nreceiving end of increasing criticism, both open and veiled, from
\nvarious directions. Most of the criticism has centered on the way
\nthe government moves, which many consider as \"slow\", \"vague\", or
\n\"indecisive\".<\/p>\n
To a certain extent the criticism has validity. On some
\noccasions the government has been slow in responding to certain
\nissues, or has appeared inconsistent. But don't all new
\ngovernments start their first few weeks in the first gear, only
\nto move faster after some adjustment? After all Megawati is a
\nrelatively new political player; and given the magnitude of the
\nmess that she inherited from the previous regimes, no new
\ngovernment would dare dream of being capable of solving it within
\na year or two.<\/p>\n
Yet, from the very beginning many have expressed their
\napprehension over what they see as an indication of Megawati's
\n\"slow-motion\" style when she took more than two weeks to form her
\nCabinet. But she was excused when later she readily apologized
\nfor the time she took to select her ministers, because, she said,
\nit took lengthy deliberation to choose more than 20 ministers
\nfrom the 200 candidates presented to her.<\/p>\n
When the Cabinet line-up was finally unveiled, many sighed
\nwith relief; despite some dubious characters, most of the Cabinet
\nmembers chosen were considered good. Some even praised the
\nCabinet line-up as a \"dream team\". And when President Megawati
\ndelivered her state address on Aug. 16, clearly outlining sound
\nand realistic policy, everyone happily showered her with praise.
\nOverall, public sentiment was positive.<\/p>\n
The public, fed up with the endless bickering between the
\npolitical elite and continuous unrest and lawlessness, were
\nlooking ahead to rosy days of political stability and economic
\nrecovery.<\/p>\n
For once, the \"cowboy legislators from Senayan\", notorious for
\ncausing headaches to the executive branch, were silent, leading
\npeople to think that the consensus on the political moratorium to
\nsupport Megawati presidency until 2004 would work after all.<\/p>\n
Then came Sept. 11. Everything has changed since then. What
\nhas begun is a global crisis of unprecedented proportions. The
\nworld economy is moving toward its worst recession. The pounding
\nof war drums is in the air; terrorism is becoming the world's
\nnumber one enemy.<\/p>\n
A new paradigm in international relations has taken birth:
\nEither you are with us (to fight international terrorism) or
\nagainst us; with the United States as the leading actor. And then
\non Oct. 7 the U.S. and its allies started to attack Afghanistan's
\nTaliban regime for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, the
\nalleged mastermind of the terrorist acts.<\/p>\n
The pros and cons of the U.S. action has divided the world,
\nwith most Islamic countries opposed to the attack; but given the
\nU.S. might, few dare to air it openly.<\/p>\n
With the world's biggest Muslim population, Indonesia is
\nunavoidably dragged down into the quagmire. Although small in
\nnumber, some hard-line Muslims have seized the opportunity to
\nvent their anger and despair on what they perceive as years of
\ndeprivation and marginalization to launch an anti-U.S. campaign.<\/p>\n
Hence, threats of \"sweeping\" of expatriates, anti-American
\nrallies, and campaigns to boycott American products and even
\ndemands to cut diplomatic ties with the U.S., became daily events
\nin Jakarta and other cities in the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
And unfortunately the disproportional coverage of the media,
\nboth foreign and local, has aggravated the situation to the
\nextent that Indonesia is pictured as a dangerous country to
\nvisit, causing hundreds of thousands of tourists to cancel their
\ntrips. While the economy, greatly dependent on the U.S., is
\nalready in tatters and buckling under years of crisis, feels the
\nfurther pinch of a U.S. recession and is in danger of collapse.<\/p>\n
The quality of a leader is best demonstrated when he or she is
\nfacing a crisis. Undoubtedly, the current crisis demands swift
\nand firm action, sound decisions and of course strong leadership.<\/p>\n
It is these qualities that many believe the current
\ngovernment is lacking. Critics said that the government has
\nfailed to show firm policy and actions when anti-U.S. rallies
\nstarted to appear on the streets, encouraging other groups, even
\nmoderate ones, to join the rallies. And everybody knows that when
\nthe tide grows bigger, it is harder to stop it.<\/p>\n
The government is also blamed for its failure in making the
\npublic aware that rallies against the U.S. and its allies would
\nfurther hurt Indonesia's economy to the extent that it may
\ntotally collapse. In other words, the government has shown a poor
\nsense of urgency in this worsening situation. The battle cry of
\n\"think of our national interests first\" as declared by
\nCoordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono a few weeks ago is considered by many as too
\nlate to stop the flood, or to put sanity into the public mind.<\/p>\n
A rift within the government is now coming into the open and
\nthe cracks on the wall became bigger when a number of Cabinet
\nministers in closed meetings reportedly complained that both
\nSusilo and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun
\nKuntjoro-Jakti had \"poor leadership\". Surprisingly, very few
\ncritics reproached President Megawati directly for the current
\ncrisis and most put the blame on the two chief ministers
\n(Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla has not
\nsurprisingly been spared).<\/p>\n
No wonder, some critics have lately joked that the \"dream
\nteam\" has fallen short of expectations; while the crisis deepens,
\ncertain ministers are still \"dreaming\".<\/p>\n
What should be done?<\/p>\n
The situation is not beyond repair. There is no doubt that
\nPresident Megawati is trying her best to manage the situation.
\nBut she needs all the help she can get. Revamping the Cabinet,
\nalthough a sound option, seemed to be the remotest option.<\/p>\n
It would be better if the President exerted more direct power
\nby depending less on the Coordinating Ministers. As some
\nobservers have pointed out, Megawati should insist that all
\nimportant decisions should be taken during Cabinet meetings, not
\nin coordination meetings led by the coordinating ministers.<\/p>\n
Megawati should also beef up her advisory team by recruiting
\nmore experts, not only to get a second opinion on strategic
\nmatters, for example on Islam, but also as a means to reach out
\nto wider communities which may strengthen her political base in
\nthe long term.<\/p>\n
The past three months also shows that the government needs a
\ncapable and qualified spokesperson that can act not only as the
\nmost reliable checkpoint but also as the \"real\" mouthpiece of the
\nPresident. Certain parties have nominated the current State
\nMinister for Information and Communication Syamsul Mu'arif for
\nthis job. But there are also objections since it reminds people
\nof the bygone era of the minister of information during the
\nauthoritarian rule of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
As the first 100 days of President Megawati is drawing closer,
\nand as the global and national crisis deepens it is obvious that
\nshe has to straighten out her Cabinet and take a more \"I'm in
\ncommand\" role.<\/p>",
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