Abdurrahman and Megawati, Indonesia's dynamic duo

By Kornelius Purba

JAKARTA (JP): Rarely, in any country in the world, will you find the two top state executives as complex and yet congenial as Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Their reported spats resemble the love-hate relationship of a brother and a sister, yet their fight to build Indonesia anew can be likened to the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin.

It was President Abdurrahman himself who recently described that nothing must come between the dwi-tunggal, or duo, between himself and Megawati.

Several times it has been reported that Vice President Megawati was upset with President Abdurrahman Wahid, including during the formation of the latest Cabinet in August.

But such is the nature of their relationship that the President will visit Megawati's residence and stay there for few hours.

Usually things are patched up.

A senior official who cares for the Vice President's household affairs, recounted how Megawati would receive Abdurrahman but refuse to talk to him.

Abdurrahman would then resort to tried and proven tactics.

"I'm very hungry. I miss your cooking. I come here just because I want to eat, please," the official said recounting Abdurrahman.

The president would keep insisting that Megawati cook for him, or at least make some nasi goreng (fried rice).

"Despite still being angry with him, Ibu then usually cooks for him. And after eating, the President would pretended not to realize that Ibu is still upset and then make several jokes."

The novelty of their relationship is even more unique in that they were political competitors during the presidential election in October 1999.

Crying

The two share a long history together.

Abdurrahman's father, Wahid Hasyim, was the country's first minister of religious affairs under Sukarno who is Megawati's father.

An ulema, close to both of them, recounted a quaint moment just before the presidential election, where both Abdurrahman and Megawati cried at the same time but for totally different reasons.

The ulema, who resides in Jakarta, said the occasion was when he accompanied them to visit Sukarno's tomb in East Java.

At the time Abdurrahman was expected to officially endorse her in the presidential race.

However at the tomb Abdurrahman whispered to the ulema that he had just received a revelation from Sukarno that he should be the next president.

Abdurrahman did not inform of this new 'development' to Megawati, who was sitting next to him.

"Gus Dur joyfully cried because he felt Sukarno supported him, meanwhile Megawati was also crying because she had not received any endorsement from Gus Dur," the ulema said.

Since attaining the presidency Abdurrahman has often joked that Megawati prefers to stay at the official presidential residence of Merdeka Palace rather than at her current residence.

He is of course referring to the fact that Megawati grew up at the Merdeka Palace when her father was president.

The styles of the two are also quite contrasting, for example the selection of their respective inner circle staff.

Determined to end the powerful hold of the State Secretariat, the President when he took office insisted that he did not want the State Secretariat to become a state within a state.

He installed Ratih as presidential secretary, and decided the duties of State Secretary (at that time Ali Rahman) was only to handle state archives.

But Abdurrahman seemed to get carried away eventually extending the bureaucratic chain which he initially wanted to dissolve and increased the number of secretaries and bodies.

Now the bureaucratic situation at the Palace is more or less just the same when compared to the Soeharto era.

Megawati, probably due to her inexperience in government affairs, appointed Bambang Kesowo a senior secretariat official under president Soeharto, to lead her team.

There are only a few of her personal associates who have been promoted to official positions in her staff.

In their work the vice presidential staff have arguably proven to be more effective as the presidential palace staff resembles a revolving door with officials being appointed and dismissed with increasing regularity.

At times the president must have glanced behind his shoulder, either suspiciously or enviably, at the vice presidential secretariat staff.

A few months ago he summoned Bambang Kesowo to Merdeka Palace and asked him about the Vice President's team.

Bambang however played down the meeting, saying the President just wanted to get more information from him.

"It is just normal for the President to summon me. He wanted to get first-hand information from the officials," Bambang told The Jakarta Post.

But the affectionate kinship between the two is evident both in public and on private occasions.

It is Megawati who discreetly nudges the president when he dozes-off during long government meetings or consultations with legsilators.

In a consultation meeting at the State Palace earlier this year, the Vice President had to several times shake Abdurrahman as he dozed off during House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung's lengthy speech.

Akbar, seated opposite the President, pretended not to realize what was going on.

Megawati's husband, Taufik Kiemas, probably describes the relationship best.

"Gus Dur is our elder brother," Taufik explained.

Despite the political trials and tribulations of the past year, that very sense of kinship remains intact and the bond strong between the two of them.