Megawati's achievements

Megawati's achievements

What kind of achievement can be expected from a president who
described herself as just a housewife and who told her ministers
that the country's economy would be managed the way a housewife
managed her family's finances? Although she had nearly two years
experience as vice president when she replaced Abdurrahman Wahid
to lead the country on July 23, 2001, people remain doubtful --
probably even to this day -- about her real leadership
capabilities.

Today, Megawati Soekarnoputri commemorates the second
anniversary of her presidency and to be fair, she has achieved
more, especially in restoring political stability, than what
people predicted two years ago. Her strong determination to
maintain the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI) at any cost, has
helped to temporarily contain rebellious movements in the
provinces.

To a certain extent, the President's harshness in dealing with
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has also helped to restore the
central government's authority. On the other hand, while the
President's policy of allowing the Indonesian Military (TNI) to
look after their own affairs plays a key role toward establishing
the current political stability, it could be costly in terms of
the country's democratization and reform process.

The members of the current Cabinet can also concentrate on
their work because, unlike Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati entrusts
her aides to do their job and rarely intervenes in the running of
their ministries.

Some progress is also visible in the area of economic
recovery. The rupiah is more stable, inflation is lower than even
the government's expectation, and significant consumer-based
growth has also helped to spur economic growth.

It would probably be too cynical to say that her most
important advantage has been her introverted, reticent attitude
and her silence, considering that many of her critics give up
airing their views on seeing that the President very rarely
reacts.

Ironically, her reluctance to probe major human rights abuses
and mega corruption cases, plus her conservative attitude, are
also among the factors that have enabled her government to
achieve stability. It is, however, lamentable that stability has
been achieved more due to her inability to cure the country's
most chronic and severe illnesses.

Despite the progress, foreign direct investment and even
domestic investment continues to plunge and the real sector
continues to worsen with no clear sign when the economic
hardships will end. Unemployment increases steadily and market
capacity to absorb labor is also still very discouraging.
Corruption meanwhile has reached nearly all levels of society,
and law enforcement is among the worst in the world.

To be fair, though, we cannot blame Megawati and her
administration alone for all these problems. The current
situation is a legacy of the Soeharto era and his successors,
B.J. Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid. In all fairness, no one can
be expected to be able to end this chaos within two years.

Nevertheless, the people deserve a much better performance
from the President. She still has one more year to realize her
own pledge of improving conditions in the country. If she can do
it, she will no doubt be in a better position to win next year's
presidential election.