Megawati keeping authoritarianism alive, say critics
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.