Next president 'needs a chief minister'<\/p>\n
The sense of an imminent change of power in Indonesia is felt
\nas far afield as Australia. One who has never lifted his eyes off
\nthe continuing crisis in Indonesia is noted political scientist
\nDr Herbert Feith.. Following is an excerpt of Dewi Anggraeni's
\ninterview with the former professor at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity, on July 18 in Melbourne, Australia.<\/p>\n
Question: Support for President Abdurrahman Wahid seems to be
\nwaning, and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri may soon be
\ntaking over. Many believe that she may simply be a stepping stone
\nfor Wahid's political opponents and detractors. What do you
\nthink?<\/p>\n
Answer: One cannot rule out the possibility that her term in
\noffice could be a short one, but that is far from inevitable, if
\nonly because there are no obvious other candidates. If the people
\nare right who say that Megawati is very likely to be president in
\na matter of weeks, it makes more sense to think about what would
\nmake her presidency effective.<\/p>\n
You have argued the case for the post of chief minister, and
\nyou have drawn attention to the role that Ir Djuanda played in
\nthat post in the first years of the guided democracy period. Do
\nyou still see that as a relevant model?<\/p>\n
Answer: I certainly do. He became chief minister in July 1959,
\nwhen Sukarno decreed \"a return to the 1945 Constitution\",
\nabandoning the 1950 parliamentary constitution. At that point
\npresident Sukarno, whose formal position had previously been that
\nof a figurehead, became an executive one, calling himself
\n\"President-Prime minister\". Djuanda, a non-party engineer who had
\nbeen prime minister for the two previous years, became chief
\nminister.<\/p>\n
Megawati would be fortunate if she could find someone like
\nthat who would take principal responsibility for the day-to-day
\nworkings of government. That would leave her free to concentrate
\non big decisions and on renewing the nation's vision of the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Djuanda was often described as a technocrat. Is that a fair
\ndescription?<\/p>\n
His overall outlook was like that. He had a good general grip
\non economic issues and worked hard at seeing to it that they were
\nnot neglected. However, he exercised authority in non-economic
\nareas as well, especially in dealing with conflict between
\nministers.<\/p>\n
But why would Megawati not leave that role to the vice
\npresident, assuming that the People's Consultative Assembly
\nappoints someone to fill that position?
\nShe would be unlikely to choose that option, I think, and unwise
\nto do so.<\/p>\n
Why unwise?<\/p>\n
After all, she would see any vice president as a potential
\nthreat, as a likely focus for groups that want to oust her from
\noffice. What she would need in a chief minister is someone who
\ncould never succeed her as president. One of Djuanda's great
\nstrengths was that he had no presidential ambitions. That made
\nhim unquestionably loyal.<\/p>\n
When Djuanda died in September 1963, Sukarno could find no
\nsuitably loyal replacement for him. So he did away with the chief
\nministership and appointed three people as deputy prime minister.
\nDr Subandrio became first deputy prime minister, but Sukarno knew
\nhim to have presidential ambitions of his own.<\/p>\n
He knew he could not trust him completely in the way he had
\ntrusted Djuanda. So he appointed Chaerul Saleh as second deputy
\nprime minister, and Dr Leimena as the third. Chaerul was thought
\nto have presidential ambitions too, and was one of Subandrio's
\nrivals. So neither Subandrio nor Chaerul was given the position
\nof total trust that Djuanda had enjoyed.<\/p>\n
Would the combination of three deputy prime ministers be
\nsimilar to the arrangements of coordinating ministers in recent
\nyears?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
So what would be the advantage of having a single person
\ncalled \"chief minister\", rather than three coordinating
\nministers?<\/p>\n
The main one is that it would ease the load on Megawati,
\nmaking it easier for her to concentrate on the greatest of her
\ntasks. One president who did that successfully was (former United
\nStates president) Ronald Reagan. He was far more of a delegator
\nin the way he ran government than (Bill) Clinton. He was far less
\n\"hands on\". Yet he was no less effective.<\/p>\n
So do you see someone who could do for Megawati something
\nsimilar to what Djuanda did for her father?<\/p>\n
One person who might well be effective in that role is Emil
\nSalim. He has had a great deal of cabinet experience and his
\nappointment as first minister would be seen as a signal that
\nMegawati's government was according a high priority to economic
\ntasks. Emil is highly regarded in the outside world, as a former
\nminister for the environment as well as for his success with
\nvarious economic portfolios.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s he was a member of the Brundtland Commission
\nwhose recommendations led to the conference on environment and
\ndevelopment in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
Would he be too old for such a demanding role?<\/p>\n
He was born in 1930, but I am told that he continues to be in
\ngood health.<\/p>\n
Would his membership of those various New Order cabinets not
\nbe seen as a barrier?<\/p>\n
I guess it could be seen that way by some, but he is widely
\nrespected among people who were active in the reformasi movement
\nin 1998-1999. Unlike so many of the ministers in the Soeharto
\ncabinets, he is seen as clean, and free from the stench of
\nnepotism and cronyism.<\/p>",
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