Megawati says RI needs leaders with inner authority
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Sumedang, West Java
President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Tuesday the nation was in need of leaders with intrinsic authority far more than those who simply relied on power.
Speaking in her address to 621 graduates of the Public Administration Institute here, Megawati said leadership qualities were worth developing as such characteristics would result in voluntary obedience among followers.
"Power relies much on regulations. In governing, it's clear that possessing leadership qualities is better than just wielding power," the President said.
She warned that a power-oriented style of governing would discourage the people at the grass roots from expressing their aspirations and fail to respond to the dynamic nature of society, which is no different from the way the past regime ruled the country.
The President asserted that only if leaders lived with their people could they identify their expectations.
She said the endorsed constitutional amendments would lead political parties to compete to respond to the real needs of their constituents.
"People's representatives in the legislative bodies, the president and vice president will be elected directly by the people. Consequently, each political party has to pick its best cadres who can gain the people's trust not only due to their charisma, but their capability in formulating the people's aspirations into real programs," Megawati said.
Following the tight competition, the elected politicians are supposed to lead a bureaucracy and change their promises into concrete actions.
"Politicians have to learn more about their constituents' historical background, culture, aspirations and interests," she said.
The current practice of administration adopted in the country, according to the President, has prevented people from understanding the complexity of problems facing other regions, overlooking the fact that most of the country's population live in remote areas.
"The result is many government policies look good on paper, but they turn out to be irrelevant or not in line with people's needs. We understand now that many problems facing the nation related with politics, economy, society or culture are just an accumulation of difficulties people in the regions face, " Megawati said.
Some 300 students from several universities greeted Megawati with a rally to criticize her government for failing to carry out sweeping reforms.
"Poverty is rising, law enforcement is poor and national debt has reached an alarming level," one of the protesters, Mohamad Taufik, said.
The students were unable to approach the President to articulate their demands due to the tight security. The students dispersed peacefully later in the day.
It was the 10th batch of the institute's graduates, who comprised 460 males and 161 females. Nine of the top ten graduates were women.