Megawati makes the rounds in rallying elite ahead of runoff
Megawati makes the rounds in rallying elite ahead of runoff
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has been going out of her way to
lobby the political elite ahead of the presidential runoff,
saying it was necessary to communicate with other leading
figures.
She confirmed meeting with former chief of the Army's Special
Forces Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday, and is to meet National
Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais, who lost to her and front-
runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the July 5 election, after a
minor haj.
However results of her meeting with Prabowo have yet to be
disclosed. Prabowo was among contestants of the Golkar Party's
convention for presidential candidates, in which former military
commander Wiranto won.
Speaking before her departure to Mecca, Megawati said meeting
with noted figures was "a political communication to unite
perceptions. In this reform era, we have to be more proactive".
The statement is highly atypical of Megawati, who has been
known for her passivity in communicating with members of the
political elite -- a trait believed to have contributed
significantly to her 1999 loss of the presidential seat, even
though her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had
garnered majority votes in the legislative election.
Over the past couple of months, however, she has been actively
rallying support ahead of the runoff.
Megawati has also visited former president Abdurrahman Wahid
-- who won in 1999 -- Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung and
Vice President Hamzah Haz, who was also defeated in the July
round.
"Both myself and Pak Amien are flexible. We do not need to
rush a meeting," Megawati said at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport,
accompanied by a 40-member entourage.
She is expected to return to Jakarta on Sunday.
"I want to pray for my country, because my government's term
will end in October, and for a successful runoff," Megawati said.
Later on Wednesday, husband Taufik Kiemas hinted at preferred
ministerial candidates if Megawati was reelected.
"People like Sri Mulyani and Azyumardi Azra are examples of
people with integrity that could be good in the Cabinet," Taufik
said, referring respectively to a prominent economist and Muslim
academic.
Amid recent calls to replace crucial judicial members against
the slow action against corruptors, Taufik said the post of
attorney general should be given to someone who had bold
anticorruption plans.
"We have to improve law enforcement in the country, and it is
crucial that the public knows who will fill that position," he
said.