Disappointing situation
I am writing in response to Mr. Gottfried Roelcke's letter Has the MPR failed the people?". I am a PAN voter, and I supported Megawati Soekarnoputri to become president because her party was the winner, no matter that some people called it a simple or absolute majority, or even if an expatriate like Mr. Roelcke thinks that it was not the winner. And Ms. Ratnaningsih is right, I am one of those PAN voters who are very disappointed in Amien Rais' inconsistency, the same with what happened to his secretary general, Faisal Basri.
I think Amien Rais is not a true reformist. He was elected chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly with the support of Golkar, a party that he always condemned in the past. As soon as he was elected he became very soft toward reform, like he has forgotten all of that since he is happy now in his new "chair". And his party turned out to be supporters of Habibie. He also proudly declared that he was supported by Habibie to be president after Habibie's speech was rejected. Very disappointing indeed!
If they had been clear from the start about their intention to support Habibie, many people like me would have voted for another party. This is deception to the core and these "people's" representatives deserve every bit of Ms. Ratnaningsih's condemnation. Why won't these people give Megawati a chance? What has she done wrong other than being a woman and very quiet? Isn't this attitude nauseating? We've been crying hell that we want to change, that's why Golkar only got less that 20 percent votes (actually), but these people just don't want to listen to us. Their only concern is their own good.
Amien Rais is as much an opportunist as many other members of the central axis force. They are not fighting for Islam, the way they want us to believe. I am a Muslim myself and don't feel they represent me.
I think for little people like me, it is clear, the point is not about Megawati or the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), even if genies have won the election, they should deserve to rule the country. Only the political elite makes it look like 65 percent of voters rejected Megawati. Besides, I read in Kompas that PDI Perjuangan's votes are "gold votes" meaning that its votes are expensive: Rp 250,000 for one seat in Java as opposed to Rp 100,000 in Sulawesi. On top of that, various polls by many different media and independent organizations clearly show that most people want Megawati as their president, not Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, or Habibie; though personally, I prefer Gus Dur than Megawati. With the National Awakening Party and other small fractions' support, PDI Perjuangan has got virtually over 50 percent of votes, and if all this is not a sign of victory, Mr. Roelcke should go back to school and learn more mathematics.
Demonstrations and riots should not be about why one party should or shouldn't rule, but election result is. If Megawati had ruled and riots were everywhere, well... these people need to learn more about democracy.
Why does Mr. Roelcke think Gus Dur wants Megawati to be his vice president? Isn't the crux of the matter clear, that the election winner's supporters have to be heard? Expatriates sometimes cannot see beyond the superficiality. They don't know what Indonesian people really think and want. They don't like Megawati because they think she is dumb, while Habibie is smart, educated, speaks English well. Well, I don't like Megawati, but she is better than many other political clowns who are sitting in the Assembly. She is honest and straight, unlike Amien Rais and his ilk.
FARIDA HANUM
Jakarta