Megawati's party must remember past pledges

Paige Johnson and Julia Suryakusuma The Jakarta Post in Jakarta

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle promised to recognize and support human rights and the various freedoms in modern democracy, such as freedom of opinion, association, organization, religion, and the press.

PDI Perjuangan often paid special attention to the freedom of a professional press as "an active link between the public and the activities and performance of those carrying out their official governmental duties." Now that President Megawati Soekarnoputri is in power, we hope she and her loyal opposition will remember those promises of freedom. Freedom is not granted just one time. It must be constantly struggled for.

PDI Perjuangan hoped its emphasis on justice and the rule of law would help to remove the causes for numerous crises and problems in society: from inter-ethnic conflicts (often themselves the result of various past injustices), to the inequality of women, to social disorder. PDI Perjuangan hoped to bring "people's justice" to an end with a firm rule of law and a democratic government.

The party repeatedly vowed to build a credible, clean, and quality government made up of the nation's best sons and daughters. Obviously Megawati was forced to compromise with the other parties which helped to bring her to power, but the fundamental emphasis on good government in PDI Perjuangan campaigning should not be forgotten.

PDI Perjuangan stressed the importance of professionalism, integrity, and loyalty to the whole nation.

On the military, Megawati often walked a fine line during the election. She had good relationships with some military officers who had tacitly supported her in the past. Still, the "establishment" military would have reason to fear the rise of a radical reformer intent on overthrowing the military's position or punishing individual officers for past misdeeds.

Megawati walked that fine line by declaring that she was "anti militarism" without being "anti military." Still, writing for the book Indonesia Pasca-Soeharto (Indonesia after Soeharto), Megawati was clear: "the dual function of the military must be ended in stages and in a set period of time."

She repeatedly attempted to stress that the army was of and for the people and the nation. She often sounded willing, though, to allow the military to carry out its own "redefinition" and "restructuring" of its role.

In her cabinet announced on Aug. 9, Megawati placed four men who were either active in the military or former military officers. In Bali, Megawati had said that it was clear which tasks should be filled by members of the military and which by civilians. Is it clear that the home affairs minister or the transportation minister must now be a member of the military? Not to us.

The problems of the military's role in society are wider, though, than just a few military men in the President's cabinet. The on-going redefinition of the military's role must be carried through all levels of society.

PDI Perjuangan promised, too, to improve government transparency and to rid Indonesia of the corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) which sucked the country's "lifeblood" for 30 years.

In June 2001, Transparency International rated Indonesia as tied for 88th out of 91 countries surveyed in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Clearly, there is still much work to be done. It is not entirely clear to us whether the new attorney general will have the political strength to help prosecute corruptors past, present, or future.

In its campaigning, PDI Perjuangan adhered strongly to the principle of the unitary state but vowed to encourage decentralization of powers to lower levels of government "as wide as possible." As the government is now reconsidering the regional autonomy provisions in an effort to make these more workable, the general tenor of the commitment to decentralization should be remembered.

Finally, in Megawati's televised campaign speech of June 1999, she stated that "making women equal partners of men is an important part of the PDI Perjuangan program."

In order for democracy to be realized in Indonesia, women must indeed be full partners, the equals of men. No one can doubt the importance of the progress that has been made for women in Megawati's personal achievement of the presidency. She serves as a role model for both women and men as to what a woman can do. But, to carry out the party's pledge requires more than just a female president. It requires comprehensive legislation which supports women's position as equal to that of men.

Closing her campaign speech in June 1999, Megawati said: "Remember PDI Perjuangan. Remember number 11. The people will certainly win." To her we now say, remember your promises. The people will certainly win.