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.