Rustriningsih: From shy girl to dauntless politician

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In many ways, she is no different from other young single women with a rising career. But she's no ordinary woman in the country's political landscape, still primarily filled with men even with a woman president.

Rustriningsih, 34, showed she was a promising politician when she, then chairwoman of local chapter of Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party for struggle (PDI-P), managed to quell the ethnic conflict in her birthplace of Gombong and nearby Kebumen, Central Java, in September 1998.

Her show of bravery led her to win a 1999 regional election to become a member of House of Representatives.

A year later, she outclassed seven men to be elected the regent of Kebumen. She became the first elected female regent in the reform era under President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Rustriningsih said her high-profile position was a bit out of character for her.

"Essentially, I'm a shy girl. I hardly go out from my house, especially when I was still studying," she said in a recent interview during a trip to Jakarta.

She formally started her political career by joining the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in 1993, a year after she graduated from the School of Public Administration at Jendral Sudirman University in Purwokerto, Central Java.

"I was asked by a friend of my late father to become the deputy secretary at PDI, because I was the only female with a degree," said the eighth of 10 siblings.

With PDI's rancourous split in 1996, she chose to stay with Megawati and led many campaigns against the Soerjadi-led PDI in the 1997 election, which saw Soeharto emerge as president for the seventh consecutive time.

"It's very clear and understandable that Soerjadi's party was a product of (the regime's) fabrication. It's the Megawati-led party who really accommodated the people's aspiration," she said.

It was not easy for Rustriningsih, especially under the repressive regime. Many times she had to think hard to escape from the security officers and to calm angry PDI-P supporters. During difficult times, she found out that negotiation and diplomacy are the effective way to deal with friends as well as political foes.

The demands of political activity -- and violence, sometimes -- forced her to come out of her shell.

"During the run-up campaign to the 1997 election, we always tried to disrupt PDI-Soerjadi's campaign (rallies), which were always heavily guarded. It was a very moving moment; I did not have the heart to see my people being beaten by the security officers or sent to jail. During this suffering, they still tried to protect me by saying that it was their own will to do that and covered me up as the one who gave them the order.

"But I tried to see them and find them good lawyers to set them free from jail. I was not discouraged, but moved."

Rustriningsih said she had long cared about the status of poor people in society, but her position in government gave her the power to address the problems.

She hailed her father, Soekamto, who died on Nov. 26, as her political guru. She said when she was a child, her father used to discuss sociopolitical matters after dinner. All the discussion focused on the common people who had to lost their property and their rights for the sake of development.

She also read biographies of the world's great leaders, including Sukarno, Mahatma Gandhi and U.S. presidents, from Woodrow Wilson to Richard Nixon.

"My father was an idealist, but he never became a party or government official. When I was still in elementary school, I already had the impression that I was different from other children. I often could not eat well after school because my thoughts rambled to the ice cream vendor at school who got older and (was considered) worthless. I also observed that there were friends who had not been given allowances by their parents but others drove in cars to school."

She preserved the images in her mind but had no idea about how to change the situation. She said she was also disappointed with her college friends who were chasing for titles instead of knowledge.

Upon graduating from college, she registered herself for the civil service but she failed because "those who were in charge of the recruitment procedure were mostly my former lecturers who once made me fail with my thesis".

She then decided to start her own business. She opened a food catering service and bookstore at her residence and became a newspaper agent. "I focused on earning money. I wanted to be economically independent."

Through the business, she was able to interact with common people and introduce them to politics. "At last, I have close relationships with common people, including street vendors. I set up a group of vendors and held gatherings. I taught them to save money."

Although she is independent, Rustriningsih hinted that she still hoped that she could marry someday. "I have many problems which could not be easily solved. If that happens, I will go to my bedroom and sleep. It's like erasing a recorded cassette. After that, all my confusion and sadness will disappear when I wake up.

"I am confident that however hard the problem is, God willing, I will find the way out as long as I have a good intention. There are many people who will lend their hands."

After becoming a regent, Rustriningsih started a new approach to change the bureaucracy.

"In the beginning, all people only wait and see. I had the feeling that all of them were waiting to see me fail. But I tried to approach every element in the community, I also visited the Muslim boarding school. My principle is like a boxing rule: You have the chance to be knocked out when there is a space between you and your opponent."

She has little privacy now ("Someone has even taken care of purchasing my face powder") but she is also learning on the job.

"I have learned patience, self-control and, most importantly, to make a decision. I can't learn it from books but from the life experiences and a long struggle. It takes an instinct to make a good decision."