Normalcy returns for Megawati

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri woke up as an ordinary citizen on Wednesday.

She spent her first day as former head of state with her grandchildren at her residence on Jl. Kebagusan in South Jakarta, an opportunity that eluded her during most of her three years and three months as president.

Her house looked quiet when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla took their oath of office as the new president and vice president at around 10:30 a.m. Several presidential security officers were seen guarding the house, denying entry to people who were not expected.

"She's spending her day playing with her grandson and granddaughter, taking care of the flowers she planted in her backyard and preparing for a breaking of the fast get-together," one of her aides told The Jakarta Post.

However, while millions of Indonesians were glued to their TV sets to watch the live broadcast of Susilo's inauguration, the aide said Megawati did not even switch her TV on.

Megawati moved to the house from her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar in Central Jakarta after the General Elections Commission declared Susilo the winner in the Sept. 20 poll.

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid said Megawati confirmed through a letter that reached him at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday that she would not attend Susilo's inauguration due to the "current political mood" and for the sake of a smooth succession.

Megawati also expected her successor to deliver the people's mandate, Hidayat added.

After the inauguration, Megawati's loyalists Theo Syafei and Jacob Nuwa Wea, who is outgoing transmigration minister, visited the former president. They arrived a few minutes before Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas, who was present at Susilo's inauguration as an Assembly member.

"She's staying cool; she's fine," Nuwa Wea said afterwards.

Later the deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) which Megawati leads, Pramono Anung, came.

During a gathering to break the fast together with party members and neighbors at her residence later in the day, Megawati was reluctant to acknowledge her defeat.

"We did not lose, we were just short of votes," Megawati told hundreds of people attending the event, adding that she would lead her party to a comeback in 2009.