PDI-P leadership

PDI-P leadership

Virtually all the major political parties have warmed to the
initiative of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) for their leaders to meet to discuss the future of
the nation. The idea for the meeting came following Tuesday's PDI
Perjuangan executive board meeting led by chairperson Megawati
Soekarnoputri, who is also the country's Vice President.

It came a day after the House of Representatives (DPR) issued
a second memorandum to rebuke President Abdurrahman Wahid for his
leadership failings. In broaching the idea, PDI Perjuangan
leaders did not outline a clear agenda for the meeting other than
saying that it is intended for the political leaders to explore
various steps following the second memorandum. Since the House's
censure reflected an acute leadership crisis in Indonesia, there
is no doubt in anybody's mind that the meeting, which is expected
to take place next week, will discuss the possibility of some
kind of transition of power from the embattled Abdurrahman.

While the majority of the political parties have agreed on the
need for changes in the national leadership, they have yet to
come to a conclusion on the exact nature of these changes. Three
possible scenarios most widely discussed today are: the
resignation of Abdurrahman, his removal by the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR), and a power sharing arrangement.
Either of these options will push Megawati Soekarnoputri to the
forefront. Constitutionally, the vice president will succeed the
president if the latter is incapacitated in any way.

That the initiative for the meeting should come from PDI
Perjuangan is only appropriate. This is not only because its
chairperson Megawati is looking more and more likely to succeed
Abdurrahman, but also because PDI Perjuangan, which won the 1999
general election, has the largest representation in the House.

More than any other political faction, PDI Perjuangan is best
placed to take the initiative and the leadership in hammering out
the political compromises that are needed today to take Indonesia
out of its predicament. In retrospect, had PDI Perjuangan taken
the same initiative after it won the general election nearly two
years ago, it might have clinched the presidency in October 1999.

In taking the initiative and the leadership, PDI Perjuangan
today appears to have also overcome the psychological barrier
that has haunted it because of Megawati's position as Vice
President. As the deputy to the President, Megawati must continue
to show her unflinching loyalty to Abdurrahman. Although she will
become the beneficiary of his downfall, she must not be seen as
taking any part in the current drive to remove him from office.

At a time when the President is coming under increasing
pressure, Megawati has managed to stand by him in such a way that
no one can accuse her of being disloyal. How long she can manage
to keep this posture remains questionable. She has started to
distance herself from the President and at some stage in the near
future, she might be forced to cut her ties with the President,
lest she sink along with him.

In her capacity as head of the country's largest political
party, she has her obligations to the nation. This means she and
her party must take the lead and the initiative whenever called
upon. It is in this context, at a time when the national
leadership is facing a crisis, that PDI Perjuangan's proposal for
a meeting must be seen. This was also the context which had led
Megawati to let her party take part in the various moves to
rebuke the President on two occasions in the last three months.

Some people, even many within PDI Perjuangan, may find the
party leaders to be moving too slowly. But Megawati has been
consistent in following the laws and the Constitution to the
letter in just about every step she took. Nobody could accuse her
of ever violating the Constitution. This says a lot about a woman
who might soon become Indonesia's next president.

Whatever emerges from the meeting between the leaders of the
major political parties next week, we welcome the emergence of a
more assertive and proactive PDI Perjuangan, including its
chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, something that is only
commensurate with its position as the largest political party in
the country. The party and its leaders, including Megawati, owe
it to the nation to lead Indonesia out of the present crisis.