Megawati begins to feel the heat in government

Megawati begins to feel the heat in government

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is facing difficulties in
leading the government due to the failure of her party's
legislators to control the House of Representatives, political
analysts say.

"Megawati now feels that her government cannot carry out its
work effectively because the House spends too much of its time
scrutinizing her," political analyst from the Centre for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Kusnanto Anggoro told
The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Denny J.A., from Jakarta-based Jayabaya University, shared a
similar view, saying that Megawati had begun to experience the
same difficulties that befell her predecessor, former president
Abdurrahman Wahid.

Both Kusnanto and Denny made the remarks in response to
Megawati's criticism of legislators, claiming that their internal
bickering had hampered the reform process.

Kusnanto said that being a president during such a
transitional period was difficult because of the all-powerful
legislative body.

The government is required to work efficiently to solve
various pressing problems, but the government's initiatives are
frequently not implemented because many policies have to gain
approval first from the House, he said.

He added that the situation had got worse since the House
acquired legislative, judicial and executive powers.

The legislative function includes law making, while the
judicial function involves the creation of the House's special
committees to probe certain cases. The executive function
includes the right of the House to take part in the appointment
of state officials like the national police chief, military
commander, ambassadors, etc.

"Under such conditions the government cannot work well if
legislators of the president's party are unable to control the
House," said Kusnanto.

Denny said that Megawati's government actually needed a party
like Golkar to form a strong coalition government with. But a
coalition with Golkar would mean that she would find it difficult
to fulfill her promise of cracking down on corruption.

If the 153 seats of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) in the House were to be combined with
those held by the Golkar Party (120), then they would become the
majority in the 500-member legislative body.

Denny said that it would not be easy for Megawati to hold a
coalition with the Central Axis because it consists of several
parties with varying political agendas.

The Central Axis is a group of politicians from Muslim
parties, including the United Development Party, National Mandate
Party, the Crescent and Star Party and Justice Party. Jointly,
they have 112 seats in the House.

Golkar and Central Axis took part in enabling Megawati to
become president in the People's Consultative Assembly's Special
Session last July.

On Sunday, Golkar threatened to withdraw its support for
Megawati's leadership if her legislators supported the creation
of the House special committee to probe Golkar Chairman Akbar
Tandjung in a corruption case.