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.