Powers that be behind Megawati

Powers that be behind Megawati

From Tempo

The view that the president and vice president should be male Muslims is deemed by many "religious politicization", supposedly aimed at obstructing Megawati Soekarnoputri from becoming the nation's leader.

My view is that it was not meant to block Megawati but to check those behind her, the "queen makers" if you will.

As an individual, Megawati is not to be reckoned with. It is the groups behind Megawati who are the real players. If the woman concerned was someone other than Megawati, such as noted economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati or presidential spokeswoman Dewi Fortuna Anwar, there might not be such a ballyhooed reaction.

Nahdlatul Ulama senior figures K.H. Hasyim Ashari and K.H. Wahid Hasyim initially emphasized that men had the predominant right to become leaders and hinted that women were religiously prohibited from assuming national leadership.

Even Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, once expressed his support for the view that the position of khalifah (state leader) must not be held by women.

It seems the "religious politicization" move may also be directed against those who once gave their support to women as national leaders. Remember Gus Dur was an intimate of Mbak Tutut, Soeharto's eldest daughter, when the latter was projected to be on the path to national leadership.

When Soeharto quit his presidential post and Tutut's leadership chance faded away, Gus Dur then turned to Megawati, chief of a faction of the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party. Subsequently, there was vigorous support for women's entitlement to become national leader, followed by the exchange of allegations that the other side was resorting to the "religious politicization" ploy.

H. SURATMAN

Bogor, West Java