Acting presidential

Acting presidential

"Too much generality and not enough specifics," commented one
member of the audience when Indonesian Vice-President Megawati
Sukarnoputri addressed businessmen at a forum in Singapore
yesterday.

It is a rare occasion when Ms. Megawati has anything at all to
say in public. And at first glance, her speech failed to give any
clue as to how she would handle her country's political crisis or
whether she had any clear ideas on ways to revive its collapsed
economy.

But reading between the lines, the observant would notice that
her seemingly bland statements contained a subtle warning that
her homeland is in deep trouble and that any further
deterioration could have disastrous consequences.

As the next in line to become president, Ms. Megawati has been
careful to avoid any public comments which may be interpreted as
an embarrassment to President Abdurrahman Wahid. She stuck to
that practice in Singapore, but yesterday's speech still sounded
her most presidential so far.

It may be that Ms. Megawati is adopting a higher profile as
Mr. Wahid becomes more beleaguered, although the situation is so
volatile that it is hard to say if Mr. Wahid can pull through the
crisis sparked off by his alleged involvement in a corruption
scandal. One of the most serious blunders Mr. Wahid made
recently was failing to give Ms. Megawati the powers he promised
in acknowledgment of her loyalty. Ms. Megawati's Democratic Party
of Struggle holds 30 percent of the seats in Parliament, while
Mr. Wahid's National Awakening Party has only a third of that
number.

Until she authorized her party to vote for a motion to censure
the President, Ms. Megawati had supported the ailing Mr. Wahid.
But the "mother of the nation" and daughter of Indonesia's
founding president Sukarno is an unknown quantity. Political
power is already hers, but she apparently will do nothing
unconstitutional. Her father wrote the constitution. She will
abide by it and let matters take their own course.

It is too early to write off Mr. Wahid, but a woman leader in
Jakarta is beginning to look a better option, even to parties
traditionally against the idea of female rule. Hers would be a
more authoritarian rule, but it might get the country back on
track, provided she picks able ministers.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong