Domestic problems await Mega's arrival

Domestic problems await Mega's arrival

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri returned home on Sunday evening
from her trip to Africa and Europe, bringing with her a bundle of
memorandums of understanding that need further discussion before
they can materialize.

Ending the 15-day whirlwind tour to six countries, Megawati
touched down safely at Halim Perdanakusumah Airport and was
greeted by Vice President Hamzah Haz and several Cabinet members.

Critics have said that Megawati, who has just completed her
sixth overseas trip in the past year, is no different from her
predecessor, who liked to travel instead of dealing with problems
at home.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid traveled to more than 50
countries during his 20 months in office, and Megawati, who
assumed power in July last year, has gone to 27 countries.

Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Megawati failed
to secure any confirmed business deals with the countries she
visited. A presidential staff member told The Jakarta Post that
only a few MOUs in the economic field were signed during the trip
this time around.

A high-ranking official at the Presidential Palace told the
Post that the trip, which took Megawati to South Africa, Algiers,
Hungary, Bosnia, Croatia and Egypt, cost the country about Rp 22
billion (US$2.5million).

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said on
Sunday it was unnecessary that Megawati spent so much money on
the trip as there were no significant results from her travels.

"As far as I know, the President disbursed Rp 250 billion on
overseas trips and nothing came out of it. If it had lured
investors to the country that would have been fine, but the
problem is, it did not," Amien told Antara.

During her absence, the country saw the courts sentence House
of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung to three years in jail
for graft and the chaotic reelection of Sutiyoso as Jakarta's
governor.

Megawati was also away during the peak of a human drama that
followed the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of undocumented
migrant workers from the neighboring country of Malaysia.

Another practice the President picked up from Abdurrahman was
the habit to complain while she was out of the country.

During her tour, she criticized the Indonesian media for
"blowing the workers' plight out of proportion", while lashing
out at critics who found fault with her overseas trip.