Megawati and the top job
To my disbelief, Mrs. Van der Zee (The Jakarta Post, June 25) replied to my letter of June 2, in which I argued that Mrs. Megawati Soekarnoputri would be prudent to avoid accepting the presidency. Mrs. Van der Zee presented Megawati as "eating politics for breakfast". That was a worse interpretation of reality than Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes I was a guest for breakfast on the back terrace of Merdeka Palace, when the children came by for a kiss from their father on the way to school. Bung Karno separated state affairs from his family entirely.
If the letter writer were familiar with my articles and books about Sukarno, she would have been aware that because I was then and consider myself today a friend of Megawati's father, I wrote the June 2 letter. It was my duty to sound a warning. I am even convinced that if her father knew she aimed in 1999 for the highest job in the land, he would urge her to take a long vacation or go and see a dukun (medicine man) on a basis of urgency.
We in Holland adored Queen Wilhelmina as a symbol of resistance against Hitler fascists. Of course, Indonesians adore Megawati for standing up against Soeharto, who killed her father through cruel isolation and imprisonment. But Megawati is not "the reincarnation of her father" as Mrs. Van der zee seems to assume light-heartedly.
On May 22 I attended Megawati's rally in Bandung. Her poor performance brought tears to my eyes, recalling the times I traveled with her father and witnessed the interplay between the masses and him. Indonesians then felt in their bones that he truly cared, that he wanted to be there talking to them because he had so much to tell and to teach. Megawati reminded me in Bandung of a lady on the road looking for a job. Incarnation? The contrast between father and daughter was horrendous and hurting.
The sad part of the story is that Indonesians seem to have no one else to turn to. They project in Megawati the deep trust they placed into the leadership of Bung Karno. For Megawati to accept this trust in his name carries maximum risks, because when you have known the father, and meet the daughter in private, you can but sadly conclude, that she is neither equipped nor trained to direct the rebuilding of Indonesia from a military dictatorship toward a legislative democracy.
No matter who her advisors would be, personal charm, good intentions and, last but not least, her name, hardly guarantee success. Who, in his right mind, would like to see the daughter of a dear friend fail, without an urgent and loving warning: Megawati, don't try, you are not equipped for the job, leave it to professionals, because in the end, the people will suffer even more. Your father does not approve, I am sure.
WILLEM OLTMANS
Amsterdam