Mega has to change her 'queen-like stature'

The internal bickering of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), may deal the major party a massive blow at a time that it is still reeling from a double election defeat last year. Mochtar Buchori, a senior PDI-P advisor, shares his views with The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta and M. Taufiqurrahman on how to rebuild the party in a bid to regain public trust.

Question: Can you tell us more about the ideas for reform within PDI-P?

Answer: The ideas have been around for a long time. Since 2000, there has been a need in the PDI-P for a reform drive. Loyalty was paid to an individual, while one of the main characteristics of a modern political party is that has to be civic-oriented.

But what was gaining currency in PDI-P was a cult of personality that prevented it from striving for the people's interests. That is why we need a reform or renewal. However, this idea was never understood by the leaders; it means a certain level of education, something that the party never achieved.

Reform is also important because PDI-P has never had tangible concepts on how to deal with the country's myriad of problems such as education, corruption and poverty. Unless there is a reform, those issues will never be raised within the party and instead, the party is now busy with trivial things like how certain leaders can cling to power.

So this is not about replacing Megawati?

To me this is a problem of a system and not of an individual. There are ones who are impatient with change and have blamed Megawati's leadership style as being the source of the problems. If PDI-P wants to become a big party, it has to find new leadership, because Megawati does not understand the problems of the future.

She cannot grasp issues like nationalism in the global setting, which are very different now compared to what she was taught by (her father president) Sukarno. We need a more educated leadership that can relate to the party's past glory, but does not dwell on the past.

Who is the most appropriate leader then, for reform?

This will be an uphill battle, and it mustn't be left to old party members, not even Arifin Panigoro, but people like Laksamana Sukardi, Roy BB Janis and Guruh Soekarnoputra.

But the emergence of Guruh indicates that even the reformist camp has failed to dispel the ghost of Sukarno and seems to want to capitalize on his charisma.

Charisma is a rare gift that can't simply be inherited. We should learn from India, they carried on after (the country's founding father) Jawaharlal Nehru's demise. After the great personalities go, we must carry on with ordinary personalities.

(Doing without a charismatic leader) can be done through party education. Look at Nahdlatul Ulama; its young members have outdone (former chairman) Abdurrahman Wahid. Look also at the National Awakening Party (PKB), its young members managed to steer the party without Gus Dur (Abdurrahman). Without Amien Rais, the National Mandate Party (PAN) can get its act together too. But with PDI-P the seeds of democracy are not there yet.

All signs seem to indicate that Megawati will indeed lead PDI- P for the next five years. Is there no way she will respond to reform?

If she wants to start reforming things, first she has to abandon this queen-like stature and regal lifestyle ... What we need now is real transformation, from semi-feudal to democratic.

Now there are three camps within the PDI-P, those who want to uphold the status quo, the reformist group and what some have called the purification group. The last group wishes to banish the Gang of Three (Pramono Anung Wibowo, Gunawan Wirosarojo and Sutjipto) but think Megawati can stay. The reform group wants more thorough change. The first group is one who will fight for their position until the last gasp. It will depend on each camp to find an amiable solution.

But hasn't all access has been blocked by Megawati's camp?

Within the congress, we may not be given access, but we can voice our grievances outside. We also see that the congress is flawed, as it has robbed the democratic rights of party members by reducing the voting rights to local branch representatives.

Won't this friction and possible breakaway only give the advantage to other political parties?

That is part of the risk that we have to bear. But the reform group has stated clearly that ... reform is to prevent the party's further deterioration. Without it, PDI-P may get less than 10 percent of the votes in the 2009 election.

Aren't the leaders aware of the impending danger?

No, because they are blinded by personal interests. Like the ones who sit on the central board now, if they lose their positions now, they will lose everything.

What happens if Megawati gets elected for the 2005-2010 term?

I predict that votes will drastically decrease in the 2009 elections. The motivation for her to get reelected as party leader is that she wants to run for president in 2009 election.

In her speech, Megawati spoke about outside interference from a third party, what was she referring to?

The real third party is party members who've grown restless. The government is too busy with managing this country, if that is what she was referring to. We're in an era when big personalities are tumbling, Soeharto was the first, Akbar Tandjung and Gus Dur at the NU congress in Boyolali. Will Megawati suffer the same fate? I can only speculate.

Will this transformation issue dwarf other political agendas, like preparations for elections?

Whatever happens in this congress, 2005 will be a messy year for PDI-P; if it can manage to get its act together, then it will grow strong in the following years leading to the election. But if it fails, then it will meet its destruction in 2009.