Jakarta's new leader

Jakarta's new leader

The swearing in of Megawati Soekarnoputri as Indonesia's
fourth president in the last three fractious years brought an
abrupt but largely peaceful end to the ineffectual rule of
Abdurrahman Wahid. Mr. Wahid refused to vacate the presidential
palace, but his resistance appeared to be futile. With the
elevation on Monday of Vice President Megawati, Indonesians must
now belatedly address daunting economic and social problems.

Mr. Wahid was Indonesia's first democratically elected leader.
He lasted less than two years, victim in large part of his
erratic leadership and inability to work with the national
legislature. He dithered as the economy faltered, and he failed
to bring a dangerously unaccountable military under civilian
control. The constitutional process by which the legislature
removed him from office was legitimate, hastened by his failed
attempt to declare a state of emergency and appoint a new
national police chief.

Mrs. Megawati is the daughter of Indonesia's founding leader,
Sukarno, and head of its largest political party. She inherits a
bewildering array of political and economic challenges, to which
she brings limited experience. As vice president she surrounded
herself with respected economic advisers and tightened the state
budget. She now needs to sit down with lenders and renegotiate
the country's crippling debt. She must also move to fight
corruption, build the rule of law and reduce the military's role
in business.

She is closely identified with the armed forces and has
favored strong military action against separatists in Aceh and
Irian Jaya. She was quick to defend the military for its brutal
conduct in East Timor. She should use her ties to the military to
assert civilian authority over the army and rationalize its
command structure, bringing local commanders under national
control. She must recognize that negotiations rather than
repression represent the only solution to Indonesia's separatist
conflicts.

-- The New York Times