Megawati's chance very slim<\/p>\n
A recent controversy surrounding the religious status of
\npresidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri has turned out to
\nbe a kind of Pandora's Box for her. It has brought about not only
\na host of new problems but also renewed public attention to her
\npreviously known weaknesses and shortcomings.<\/p>\n
If Megawati is a Moslem, she should realize that although the
\nKoran enjoins Moslems to respect people of other religious
\nfaiths, it does not instruct them, for instance, to pray
\naccording to Hindu ritual in a Hindu temple as she did. On the
\nother hand, if she is a Hindu, as suggested by the prima facie
\nevidence of her praying in the temple, she is still for sure
\nentitled to be a presidential candidate as there is no law in the
\ncountry that bars a non-Moslem from becoming president. But the
\nquestion is, as State Minister for Food and Horticulture Prof.
\nDr. A.M. Saefuddin rightly pointed out, would the Indonesian
\nelectorate, which is overwhelmingly Moslem, vote a non-Moslem to
\nthe highest office in the land?<\/p>\n
This is clearly a practical question about who an electorate
\nwill choose in a democratically held election, and not about any
\nperceived slight on Hindus or Hinduism. By analogy, to expect a
\nnon-Moslem to be the next president of Indonesia is as
\nunrealistic as to expect a Moslem to be the prime minister of
\nHindu India or the president of Catholic Philippines or Orthodox
\nRussian Federation, as Moslems constitute only about 10 percent
\nof the population in each of those countries (for comparison,
\nHindus make up 1.8 percent of Indonesia's population).<\/p>\n
One of Megawati's faults is certainly her heavy dependence on
\nher late father's charisma, which helps to create a personality
\ncult about the father and herself. However, this cultism is not
\nonly undemocratic but could be counterproductive to her
\npresidential ambitions because the father is also known to have
\ncommitted many political mistakes and blunders. Another
\nshortcoming of Megawati is her unfortunate lack of professional
\nor tertiary qualifications, which are certainly needed by an
\nIndonesian president of the 21st century.<\/p>\n
It seems to me that Megawati's relative lack of sophistication
\nis sadly reflected by her remaining unresponsive on many
\noccasions. For instance, when Amien Rais of the National Mandate
\nParty and A.M. Saefuddin of the United Development Party
\nchallenged her to a public debate, she chose not to react.
\nSimilarly, when various political leaders were intensively
\nprotesting or debating on such important events or allegations as
\nthe Banyuwangi killings, Freeport corruption scandal, Soeharto's
\nunlawful wealth or mass killings of civilians in Aceh province,
\nagain, Megawati elected to be completely silent. Likewise, when
\nAmien Rais and other politicians, as well as thousands of
\nstudents, were busy organizing or taking part in proreform
\ndemonstrations in Jakarta last May, Megawati was nowhere to be
\nheard or seen.<\/p>\n
In view of the adverse factors mentioned above, including the
\ncontroversy about her religious status, I think Megawati's party,
\nPDI Perjuangan, will gain only about 10 percent to 15 percent of
\nthe votes in next year's election. Her supporters are expected to
\ncome mainly from the following two groups: (1) non-Moslems,
\nnumbering about 12 percent of the population or electorate, and
\n(2) purely nominal Moslems, also known as abangan Moslems. These
\napparently syncretic Moslem diehards have recently decreased in
\nnumber and today probably account for about 5 percent of the
\npopulation. Megawati will possibly try to form a coalition with
\nother parties but her chance of becoming the next president is
\nvery slim. As I see it, as long as Megawati is in charge, PDI
\nPerjuangan will remain a relatively minor party in the
\nforeseeable future.<\/p>\n
MASLI ARMAN<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/megawatis-chance-very-slim-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }