Mega's leadership falls short of expectations

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Megawati Soekarnoputri, after one year as President, has affirmed people's doubts in her inability to be the country's dream leader.

A year ago today, the country saw a new light when she read out the presidential oath and vowed that she would take "immediate and concrete actions to defuse the prolonged crisis".

Although many doubted her capability as she rarely spoke her mind, most considered her the best choice that the country had to survive.

After one year, it is only natural that many questions have arisen such as whether she is really leading the country and taking concrete actions to free the country from crisis.

The first months of her tenure were golden, her reserved behavior an asset that led the country to greater stability.

"The President clearly understands that any single statement from her could create furor," her close confidante Agnita Singadikane Irsal said on Monday.

The never-talk attitude of the President has appeased critics, tamed the military and pulled the country out of the days of disorder under former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

However, critics say her poised conduct is the only good thing about her leadership style. But it is also viewed as her weaknesses when it came to her indecisiveness and her lack of awareness of the people's wishes in the name of stability.

Her political backing of Sutiyoso, a retired general, for his second term as Jakarta governor and her move to block a proposed investigation into a graft case involving Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung are examples of her disregard for the people's wishes.

"She always had her own judgment, while she should have listened more to the aspirations of the public," political observer from Gadjah Mada University Ichlasul Amal said on Monday.

He emphasized that it was very difficult for the public to understand the reasons behind her controversial decisions and once in a while she should explain her decisions.

Besides "wearing an ear plug," Megawati is also seen as an indecisive leader. She rarely spells out what she wants and thereby confuses her subordinates.

Ichlasul said that her indecisiveness was a problem for a charismatic leader like Megawati as it could confuse people.

One of her subordinates confirmed this, saying that she often took too many things into consideration for every single decision and finally chose the one that would save her.

"The President always took a long time in deciding something, because she does not want to end her presidency in a disgraceful way as her predecessors did," one of the President's aides at the State Palace said.

One clear example is a decree on the state secretariat structure, that was submitted to her last December, which she has not signed until now.

"She never really says what she wants of the decree," the aide said.

Megawati's reluctance to sign the decree is apparently because she does not want to rock the state secretariat.

In one way, she wants to secure continued support from the bureaucrats.

On the other hand, people in her own party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) are vying for important positions such as state secretary, a position currently held by bureaucrat Bambang Kesowo.

Aside from political issues, Megawati also rarely gives directives on economic issues and often confuses her ministers in taking steps for economic reforms.

"Megawati has no vision or leadership. She does not know which policy she should take to accelerate economic growth," said Didik J. Rachbini, an economist from the Institute for Development, Economics and Finance (Indef).

Her indecisiveness has often caused bureaucratic blunders.

"Teamwork among ministers does not work since there is no clear guidance from the President," Didik said.

He cited an example, ministers dealing with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could not make progressive moves as the President has put a presidential decree on SMEs on her waiting list.

Seeing the current situation, should Megawati change her leadership style? Ichlasul said: "How can you change something that is attached to your personality?"

However, he stopped short of saying whether Megawati was the right person to lead the country. "What we need is a leader that can be a meeting point of many conflicting interests."