Old faces will appear

Old faces will appear

Saturday's discussion titled Megawati Among Her Rivals hinted
at skepticism that in 2004 no new national leaders would emerge
from the 2004 general election.

The new president might be directly elected but he or she
would be an old hand.

The discussion, held to coincide with the establishment of
Presidential Candidate Watchers (PCW), concluded that an old face
would not be able to deal with this country's economic, social
and political ills.

PCW coordinator Iriani Sophiaan said in the discussion that
all the presidential candidates were old players with poor
records. The issue was something that had become a matter of
popular concern: It was unlikely a genuinely new leader would
emerge.

Indonesia has had five presidents, none of whom was directly
elected by the people. Sukarno emerged as the nation's leader,
thanks to his extraordinary leadership before independence.
Soeharto appeared following political turmoil, while B.J.
Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and current president Megawati
Soekarnoputri were all elected by political party
representatives.

Harold Crouch, an Australian Indonesianist who attended the
discussion, said that people at village level might know nothing
about the quality of their current leaders, whom they will have
to elect directly in the 2004 elections. Therefore, emotional
choices will outweigh rational ones.

The elected president, whether or not he or she is a new
player, will face a people who have been growing braver and more
democratic. -- Harian Ekonomi Neraca, Jakarta