Megawati arrives from Europe with domestic problems waiting
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to arrive home on Saturday from her two-week European visit, facing expectations of a Cabinet reshuffle and a row with her younger sister.
Accompanied by her husband Taufik Kiemas and several ministers, she flew from Slovakia on Friday and was slated to make a brief stopover in Singapore before proceeding to Jakarta.
Megawati expressed her desire on Friday to buy helicopters and mobile medical clinics from Slovakia.
"It would be good if we could buy Slovakian helicopters and mobile medical clinics," Megawati told Antara in Bratislava on the final day of the visit that included Rome, the Vatican, London, Vienna and Prague.
"But any purchase from Slovakia will still have to be discussed in a Cabinet session," she added.
During her stay in Slovakian, Megawati visited a local military aircraft factory where she took the opportunity to board a helicopter on display.
Maj. Gen. Sudradjat, defense strategy director general of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense -- who was among Megawati's entourage, was quoted by Antara as saying Jakarta was interested in Slovakia's MI-17 helicopter with a capacity of 18 to 20 seats, which can be converted into an attack chopper.
The United States, which has been Indonesia's traditional supplier of military hardware since the late 1960s, has restricted sales of military equipment to Jakarta since 1999 to penalize the Indonesian Military (TNI) for its involvement in human rights abuses in East Timor in that year.
Since then, Indonesia has been looking to Eastern Europe to meet its defense needs.
The possible purchase of military equipment was also a topic of discussion during Megawati's stopover in Prague, the Czech Republic's capital.
The country's Navy announced earlier this week plans to buy 10 helicopters from Russia and four Nomad aircraft from Australia.
During her two-week visit to Europe, Megawati has been silent over mounting calls from politicians for her to reshuffle the Cabinet.
When she was in Britain, Megawati only said she would not disclose anything about a possible Cabinet reshuffle until she arrived home.
Besides the Cabinet reshuffle, Megawati is confronted with the possibility of a row with her younger sister Rachmawati Soekarnoputri who said on Thursday that Megawati should resign from the presidency for allegedly betraying the teachings of their father, founding president Sukarno.
Speaking at a press conference to mark the 32nd anniversary of Sukarno's death at his grave in the East Java town of Blitar, Rachmawati said Megawati's one-year-old government could not bring about the changes desired by the people.
"So as not to be seen as deceiving the people, it would be better if Megawati resigned from the presidency," she said.
Rachmawati, currently a close friend of Megawati's predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid who was ousted last year, accused the President of spurning the teachings of their father.
"Now the government has already bowed to the IMF and it's as if they have sold this nation to foreigners," she was quoted by the Republika daily as saying.
The government has renewed its agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) despite objections from some leading politicians, including Vice President Hamzah Haz.
Sukarno, a firebrand nationalist, once told the United States "go to hell with your aid." This slogan is often still used by Indonesians during protests against foreign lending agencies.