Megawati is starting to show signs of dictatorship

Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, korpur@yahoo.com

Only five of the 151 legislators (two of the original 153 died) from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) had the guts on Monday to openly defy the instruction of their party boss, Megawati Soekarnoputri, to save former ruling party Golkar from a major political embarrassment.

The party's top executives, even high-profile politicians such as Roy B.B. Janis, are also too scared to argue against Megawati's seemingly affectionate attitude toward outgoing Jakarta Governor Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sutiyoso. Party members fully know that Sutiyoso, the then Jakarta military commander, was also responsible for the bloody attack against Megawati's supporters on July 27, 1996, and there was no justifiable reason to reelect Sutiyoso to another five-year term, but they could not prevent Megawati's inclination toward Sutiyoso.

The total obedience of Megawati's followers does not stop there. They undergo urine tests to order as Megawati wants to know if anyone of her political loyalists has been taking drugs. Megawati has also ordered all her ministers and government officials to have urine tests. The results, however, are still unknown.

The obedience of Megawati's followers is ironic, given that they had hoped that the eldest daughter of the founding father would end Soeharto's authoritarianism and bring prosperity and justice to the nation. Many of them were victims of Soeharto's iron-fisted leadership, sidelined in national politics, or simply the jobless.

Megawati seems to have decided to forget the July 27, 1996 tragedy, when the military orchestrated the violent breakup of a gathering of her supporters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on that black Saturday. The incident skyrocketed Megawati to national fame because she was portrayed as the most potent symbol of Soeharto's victims.

It is understandable that Megawati has decided to save Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung from a House of Representatives political inquiry, as evident in last week's voting -- she may have been inspired by Golkar. Megawati is believed to have made up her mind on Akbar and Sutiyoso at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta. The house was once used by Soeharto in his capacity as chairman of the Golkar board of patrons, where he might have taken crucial decisions to crack down on the opposition, including his attempt to scupper Megawati's political career in 1996.

As in Golkar, where Soeharto had the final say on nearly all Golkar affairs during his authoritarian rule, Megawati acts like the supreme leader of PDI Perjuangan. From the election of the party leadership at regency level to the suspension of a wayward member -- all must await her petunjuk (direction).

Soeharto, who lives peacefully just a few hundred meters from Megawati's residence, should be grateful to Megawati, although the retired five-star general surely remembers how severely he treated her father Sukarno before his death in 1970. When he recently fell ill, President Megawati showed her willingness to reduce Soeharto's suffering, although many were suspicious about the timing of Soeharto's sickness. The legal proceedings regarding Soeharto have barely begun.

While Megawati appears to be dominant over her party, there are rising complaints from various sources about the activities of her husband Taufik Kiemas. He has supported his wife since the 1970s, when Soeharto treated Sukarno's children as pariahs. There is no doubt about his sincerity to his wife. The question is how to adjust his role to avoid the public perception that Taufik unduly influences Megawati's administration.

Megawati has reportedly often told people around her there is no way that Taufik could influence her decisions. But is that enough to convince the public, while some PDI Perjuangan members and Cabinet members acknowledge the rising and more disturbing power of Taufik, a PDI Perjuangan legislator?

Taufik is one reason cited behind Megawati's stance on Sutiyoso -- because people cannot find any other explanation for her firm decision.

Like it or not, PDI Perjuangan has prepared fertile ground for Megawati to potentially grow as a dictator, whose decisions must be wholeheartedly accepted.

She is a charismatic leader and people love her father who led the nation toward its independence. She followed his rise and fall.

Megawati now serves the nation at the palace in which she grew up and where Sukarno also worked as president. Many hope that she will indeed bring prosperity, justice and democracy to the nation, and not repeat her predecessors' mistakes -- including those of both her father and Soeharto.