President defends record<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri publicly defended her record
\nafter one year in office for the first time on Thursday,
\nasserting that it was impossible to resolve the country's
\nhardships quickly.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the opening ceremony for a national conference of
\nthe Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization,
\nMegawati said that it would be unfair to say that she had
\ncompletely failed in leading the country.<\/p>\n
\"It is incorrect to say that there has been no improvement at
\nall in the country,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Megawati, who took over the presidency on July 23, 2001, after
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) had dismissed then
\npresident Abdurrahman Wahid for incompetence, tried to highlight
\nher achievements after one year in office.<\/p>\n
\"We have successfully cracked down on secessionist movements
\nin the country although security in large cities still needs to
\nbe improved,\" said Megawati, who was accompanied by her husband,
\nbusinessman Taufik Kiemas, and a number of Cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n
Government troops have been fighting against rebels in Aceh
\nand Papua provinces where secessionist movements have been waging
\nwar for independence since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
She also stressed that many sectarian riots and ethnic
\nconflicts had been tackled, referring to conflicts in Central
\nSulawesi and Maluku provinces.<\/p>\n
Analysts said, however, that the current, relatively calm
\nstate of affairs was due to her decision to form allegiances with
\nlong-established players -- the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the
\nGolkar Party.<\/p>\n
The President also claimed that she had managed to be the
\nguardian of democracy by ensuring freedom of speech, although she
\nwas quick to express concern over \"the quality of the freedom
\nitself.\"<\/p>\n
\"The government has also been able to stabilize the rupiah
\nexchange rate as the basis for economic improvement,\" she said.
\nThe rupiah is currently hovering at Rp 8,900 to Rp 9,000 per U.S.
\ndollar, compared with over Rp 11,000 before she took over the
\npresidency.<\/p>\n
She emphasized that relations with foreign donors had been
\nrestored and the bank restructuring program would soon be
\nadvanced enough to reactivate trading, export and investment
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
\"It takes time, patience and persistence to tackle such huge
\nand complex problems in the country,\" she stressed.<\/p>\n
Megawati has come under fire for her failure to accelerate
\nreform and prosecute big-time corrupters from the New Order
\nregime.<\/p>\n
Amendment of the outdated 1945 Constitution, which is regarded
\nas the quintessence of reform, has moved at a snail's pace as
\nMegawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) has attempted to stop the move, arguing that the
\nprocess has gone astray.<\/p>\n
Megawati has also been accused of giving the military a
\nrenewed backroom role in government.<\/p>\n
Concerned groups and students, which spearheaded the country's
\nreform movement in 1998, have returned to street rallies,
\naccusing Megawati of being a major stumbling block to reform.<\/p>\n
Her popularity has continued to fall, with the latest survey
\ncarried out by Kompas daily indicating that 72 percent of its
\n1,773 respondents expressed disappointment over Megawati's
\nleadership.<\/p>\n
Later on Thursday, Megawati admitted that reform had hit a
\nsnag, but laid the blame on the country's bureaucracy rather than
\nher backroom political dealings.<\/p>\n
The bureaucracy, she said, especially officials at echelon I
\nand II, had failed to follow her instructions.<\/p>\n
\"That is why I am trying to find a way to scrutinize the first
\nand second echelons to speed up reform in the country,\" Megawati
\nsaid in an off-the-cuff statement during the opening ceremony for
\na seminar by the National Institute of Administration (LAN) at
\nthe State Palace.<\/p>\n
The President said she could handle the ministers directly
\nbut, \"supervision does not reach the officials below them (the
\nministers)\".<\/p>\n
Responding to public criticism that she lacked the
\ndetermination to carry out reform, she stressed that she had
\nenough political will but the bureaucrats did not support her.<\/p>\n
\"Changes should start with the bureaucrats as they are the
\nones who carry out the business of government,\" Megawati said.<\/p>\n
She charged that her policies had not got beyond the initial
\nstages as the bureaucrats had failed to cooperate.<\/p>\n
\"I have to reveal this truth to the public so that stagnation
\nof the country's reform can be avoided,\" Megawati said.<\/p>\n
She stressed that there was an urgency for the country's
\nbureaucrats to shape up so that the government's performance
\ncould be improved.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/president-defends-record-1447893297",
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