Can Megawati lead reformed government?

Can Megawati lead reformed government?

By Donna K. Woodward

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was
reelected as chairwoman and nominated as a presidential candidate
by the government-ousted faction of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) in its recent congress in Bali, has become a leading
opposition figure. But is she a reformer who can lead the
government in the reformation era?

In 1996, when the country was preparing for the 1997 general
election, and there were already perceptible though muffled
expressions of dissatisfaction with Soeharto's regime and the
excesses of his children, PDI had begun to speak of mounting an
actual election challenge with Megawati as their presidential
candidate. At that time, Soeharto was floating the idea of his
own daughter's succession to high office.

Soeharto and his henchmen took notice of Megawati and the
potential threat she posed. The threat was not to Soeharto's
impending reelection, of course, but to his plan for his
daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut), to succeed him as
Indonesia's first female president.

Megawati was an unexpected addition to the equation but
Soeharto overreacted. And his overreaction created the Megawati
mystique.

Megawati was elected head of PDI in 1993 during a turbulent
period for the party, at a time when they needed a figurehead to
appeal to their marginalized, disillusioned members.

She might have been a loyal PDI supporter prior to 1993, and
she might sincerely have wanted a better life for her fellow
Indonesians and a more democratic government, but so did many
others. What had Megawati accomplished for the party and its
causes to qualify her for the title of PDI chairwoman in 1993,
other than contributing a useful family name? And will she later
become too beholden to those who bestowed a title on her so
gratuitously?

Megawati has become a leading opposition figure. But is she a
reformer?

Most Indonesians now say they are opposed to New Order
politics as well as corruption, collusion (cronyism) and
nepotism.

Yet Megawati and her PDI have formed strategic alliances with
former Soeharto comrades who now reject what he stood for but who
did not have the courage to distance themselves from Soeharto and
his favors while he was in power. Does this not suggest the
direction and degree of compromise that a PDI/Megawati government
would take?

And when the group of seven (G-7) governments, through their
embassy officials, show interest in a particular political
candidate, this is a often a sign of their confidence that the
candidate and his/her policies will ultimately safeguard the
economic interests of the G-7 countries. Their interests and
those of Indonesia may not be identical. Is the Megawati team
independent enough from the G-7's influence to be able later to
ensure that the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and
other international aid organizations will serve the needs of
Indonesia's ordinary people better in the future than they did in
the past?

Who has the bona fides to lead a true reform government? Is it
really Megawati and her PDI? Megawati was chosen to lead her
party because she had a value as a symbol of those who were anti-
Soeharto.

Symbols have enormous value for communities, especially in
times of chaos. But Megawati has yet to demonstrate that she
possesses the other capabilities and qualities that the next
president will need, for example, a spirit of independence from
vested interests.

There is no reason to object to Megawati as person, a
compassionate and intelligent person who might make an excellent
candidate for a different position. But as president, can she, or
will she, take the reins of reform into her own hands and lead
Indonesia out of the morals of corruption in which it now seems
stuck?

In 1999, will Indonesians choose a beloved but ineffectual
opposition symbol to lead a government that needs, rather, a
courageous reform leader?

The writer, an attorney and former American diplomat at the
U.S. Consulate General in Medan, is director of PT Far Horizons.