An unlikely duet
After two days of tense meetings, Indonesia's highest policy- making body, the People's Consultative Assembly, has put its faith in Hamzah Haz, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), to assist President Megawati Soekarnoputri as the country's vice president.
In stark contrast to the election of Megawati as president last Monday, which practically constituted a mere brief formality, voting for the vice-presidential position proceeded far more tediously. At the end of the two-day process Hamzah defeated his closest rival, Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung, by a vote of 340 to 237.
Skeptics might call it the best of the worst outcomes possible. But then, many Indonesians also consider Thursday's outcome the best that could have been achieved under the country's current political constellation.
To be elected, Hamzah has had to defeat not only Akbar Tandjung, but military candidates Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Agum Gumelar, and civilian politician Siswono Yudohusodo.
Among prodemocracy activists though, Akbar is too closely associated with former president Soeharto's corrupt and autocratic New Order regime to be anywhere near being considered acceptable. He held a number of Cabinet positions during Soeharto's administration and was at that time already a prominent Golkar figure -- the New Order's political vehicle.
Many observers believe that to have Akbar Tandjung in the vice-presidential seat would have encumbered rather than helped President Megawati in carrying out her duties, which no one disputes as being colossal. Indeed, many Jakartans believed it wise to prepare themselves for massive protest demonstrations should Akbar have been elected.
As far as the public is concerned -- if media polls can be considered accurate -- the candidate most people wanted to be elected vice president was Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whom analysts have called "a thinking Army general" because of his intellectual capabilities and wide range of interests. Furthermore, his impressive performance in coping with the current political crisis should not be forgotten.
Susilo, however, held an important position in the military's ranks at the time of the New Order crackdown on Megawati's marginalized Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction in Jakarta in 1996. It is, therefore, doubtful whether Megawati, who is now President of the country, would be all too happy having him as her deputy, notwithstanding his intellectualism and impressive performance record.
Agum Gumelar is seen to be close to Megawati, a fact which again dates back to the days of the 1996 crackdown, during which time he was regarded as having protected Megawati. His track record in state affairs, however, is little known aside from his brief stint as minister of communications in an earlier Abdurrahman Wahid Cabinet lineup.
Hamzah Haz, on the other hand, is an experienced politician. But he comes from what observers might describe as a conservative Muslim background, while Megawati's strong nationalist and secular outlook is well known. After all, she has inherited much of her political beliefs from her father, Indonesia's founding president Sukarno.
It may be recalled how, during the run-up to the 1999 general election, Hamzah Haz, together with several other Muslim groups, promoted the idea that Islam forbids a woman from becoming president. The question that now begs to be asked is whether his present turn-around merely constitutes a political tactic that, in time, will prove to be detrimental to Megawati's presidency.
We certainly hope not. After all, in the past, Muslims and nationalists have worked together fruitfully and effectively for the good of the nation. To endlessly continue the present bickering among political factions would only mean prolonging the hardships under which 210 million Indonesians must live. It is time that this country's politicians start putting the nation's and the people's interests above their own.