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."