Megawati keeping authoritarianism alive, say critics
Muhammad Nafik and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, once a popular opposition leader, has developed authoritarian and aloof traits during her one year as the nation's leader, a tendency that could undermine democracy, say analysts.
Mochtar Buchori, a legislator from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and once one of her closest aides, said she was emulating former dictator Soeharto in the way she treated democracy.
"She is authoritarian and aloof. She listens to the opinions of others but eventually decides things on her own, and nobody dares to defy her," Mochtar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He was commenting on Megawati's complaints on Wednesday that she often received misleading reports from her ministers and other senior government officials eager to please her.
However, a number of politicians once close to Megawati blamed the officials' obsequious behavior on Megawati's dislike of criticism.
Mochtar and another legislator, Indira Damayanti Sugondo, who recently tendered her resignation from the PDI Perjuangan faction in the House of Representatives, said that by nature Megawati did not like to be criticized.
"I used to often meet her (Megawati) before she became vice president. But she soon ditched me after she found I wasn't going to go out of my way to please her," recounted Mochtar, who is also a noted education observer.
"She prefers to embrace newcomers as they'll go that extra mile to keep her happy," he added.
Mochtar said Megawati had no mechanism for double-checking on the information and reports she received from ministers and other officials.
He asserted that the President also cultivated a "feudalistic bureaucracy", which tended to discourage her subordinates from telling the truth.
He said that only State Minister for National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie, who is also the director of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), dared say no to Megawati.
"But, consequently, he finds himself isolated," he added.
Kwik is known for his staunch criticism of the International Monetary Fund and the government's soft-line approach to the errant debtors who are blamed by many for the prolonged economic crisis. It was once rumored he was going to be dismissed from Megawati's Cabinet.
The public's discontent with and distrust of Megawati's government has mounted since she backed the reelection of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso for a second five-year term at the expense of one of her own party members who was nominated by the PDI Perjuangan's Jakarta chapter.
Sutiyoso is accused of involvement in the July 27, 1996, attack on Megawati's party headquarters when he was the Jakarta military commander.
Noted political analysts, including Arief Budiman and J. Kristiadi, have accused her of killing democracy within the PDI Perjuangan by ignoring the wishes of her constituents at the grassroots level.
Separately, political analyst Fachry Ali said Megawati was promoting a "personal leadership style" that encouraged her ministers to assuage her with bland or flattering reports.
"Her ministers will only go to her if they're sure she will approve their ideas," he told the Post.