Megawati misses chance to prove her leadership

Megawati misses chance to prove her leadership

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri had missed the chance to prove
her leadership and rally the country behind her government by not
commenting on her antiterrorism drive, experts said Friday.

They argued that with the public at large and politicians
throwing their support behind her, Megawati should have taken a
pivotal role in the campaign against terrorism following the Bali
terrorist attacks that killed nearly 200 people and injured more
than 300 others, mostly foreign tourists.

Bachtiar Effendy of the Syarif Hidayatullah State University
said Friday that the poor performance of the government was
mainly because Megawati was a weak leader.

"The government's performance in the bombing shows Megawati's
limited leadership capacity. Normally, a politician will use
momentum like this (Bali terrorist attack) to gain more political
support," Bachtiar said.

Sutradara Gintings, director of the Institute for Policy and
Community Development Studies (IPCOS), concurred, saying
Megawati's leadership was not effective in handling the crisis
and uniting the nation.

"We, the people, need strong leadership in times of crisis.
But, we don't have it now," said Sutradara, who is also a member
of the House of Representatives (DPR).

Megawati did everything well in the beginning. She addressed
the nation some 12 hours after the bombing, visited the bomb
site, issued government antiterrorism regulations, and cracked
down on radical groups as seen in the arrest of Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir, a suspect in a string of bomb attacks in 2000.

Critics, however, have slammed her for not communicating her
policies to the public, leaving the people at large to think that
she had no capacity to deal with the terrorist networks.

Sutradara praised the government's antiterrorism regulations,
but regretted Megawati's silence. He urged the President to talk
and unite the nation.

The Oct. 12 Bali bomb blasts quickly emptied the country's
prime tourist destination as foreign countries issued travel
warnings urging their citizens to stay away from Indonesia.

Megawati has an emotional relationship with Bali as her late
grandmother was Balinese. She has visited the island twice after
the bomb blast but made no important comments during those
visits.

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais
was among those who criticized Megawati's silence. He said that
Indonesia had come to a point of no return and that the
government and "good Indonesians" must act decisively.

In an interview with U.S.-based TIME magazine, Amien suggested
that Megawati should take the responsibility and give direction
to a problem like terrorism. "But, we have very weak leadership,"
he said.

Sutradara said some Indonesians had shown a negative response
to the government's attempt to fight terrorism.

Unlike other nations which quickly united to fight terrorism,
Indonesians had become fragmented, he said.

The forced removal of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, for
example, sparked violence outside the Muhammadiyah hospital in
Surakarta, Central Java.

Sutradara said the issuance of the government antiterrorism
regulations also drew criticism as the people were concerned more
with possible negative impacts than about terrorism itself.

"With the rising suspicion from the public, Megawati should
appear and give the public a thorough explanation on the bomb
blasts. Such an explanation will unite the nation."