Women activists face challenge with President Megawati

Women activists face challenge with President Megawati

For the first time Indonesian girls now have a role model in a
president -- but women activists are not praising Megawati
Soekarnoputri. The Jakarta Post contributor Prapti Widinugraheni
asked feministpublication Jurnal Perempuan chief editor Gadis
Arivia to share her views. She was among founders of the Suara
Ibu Peduli (Voice of Concerned Mothers) group and produces the
Radio Jurnal Perempuan program.

Question: Would you consider Megawati an ideal leader?

Answer: She could be considered ideal because she was chosen
by the people, and the strengthening of the rupiah following her
appointment is a sign that people have high hopes for her. But we
have not seen her at work nor witnessed her problem-solving
capabilities.

In terms of women's issues, Megawati does not display a pro-
gender attitude, which makes her unpopular among feminist non-
government organizations and academics.

But this attitude should not stop us from supporting her. Cory
Aquino (former president of the Philippines) was in a similar
position, in that she did not show particular support for the
women's movement, but as soon as she became the leader, all
feminist NGOs gave their input and overwhelming support.

In the end, Cory championed pro-women's issues and the
Philippines had a strong women's movement. The same went for
(Pakistani former premier) Benazir Bhutto. So if Megawati is
considered to lack a pro-gender attitude, it should be seen as a
challenge and not an obstacle to the feminist movement. Among the
gender-sensitive issues she could deal with, which require the
intervention of a state leader, are women labor concerns and laws
such as those relating to domestic violence and marriage.

Many are relieved that Indonesia now has a "motherly" figure
as a president. What's the feminist movement's opinion on such a
label?

Being known as "motherly" has its advantages and
disadvantages. In the old days, people used to say that political
leaders should not be "motherly" because politics was often
identical to masculinity. But this is no longer the case. People
in developed countries are now aware that women are directly
involved in many of the world's problems, particularly in the
fields of economy, education and health.

So having a "motherly" figure -- in other words, a feminine
character -- is what politics needs these days. But we must be
wary of people who try to draw a relationship between being
"motherly" and lacking intellectual capability -- there is none.

"Non-violence" is one principle that Megawati claims to
advocate, which at least sounds in line with the women's
movement. What would she have to do to be consistent with this?

So far she has shown commitment to this claim. She stopped her
followers from retaliating through violence after the 1996 attack
on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party. She also
did not amass her followers when Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur)
became president, although her party was the legitimate winner of
the 1999 general election.

But she now seems to have a good relationship with the
military, for better or for worse. Hopefully this good
relationship does not amount to giving the military privileges
within the public and political spheres, but rather a step to
avoid animosity that might cause her programs to become
ineffective.

The same goes for her good relationships with the legislature.
Any aggressive animosity will only cause enemies to continue
threatening her Cabinet. Building good ties with the military
might be a way to avoid making the same mistake as Gus Dur. Gus
Dur, who came from a religious pesantren (Islamic boarding
school) background, was quite aggressive. He also had an NGO
background, and was therefore unsuitable as a state leader who is
required to compromise, lobby and negotiate to achieve his
targets.

Megawati has not been praised by the women's movement, which
does not see her as a vehicle for either democracy or equality.
Your comment?

Gus Dur displayed his pro-gender attitude by his good choice
of minister for women's empowerment. Similarly, we can make an
assessment of Megawati by whom she chooses to replace Khofifah
Indar Parawansa (minister of women's empowerment in Gus Dur's
Cabinet). But that is not enough.

The women's movement must continue to encourage the Cabinet to
encompass pro-gender policies. It would be counterproductive for
NGOs to just criticize and observe from the outside. It's better
to use the strategy in the Philippines: NGOs worked hard to show
Cory Aquino that gender issues were important and vital for
development.

What are Megawati's strengths?

Her representation as a woman is very good, in that it debunks
the myth that a woman cannot be a leader. This has also managed
to silence religious groups who have doubts about women leaders.
Her appointment is very good for the younger generation, so we
can expect them to have a higher level of gender awareness and
see this as a model.

Now, based on this representation and phenomenon, we must
provide content by making sure that the policies made by
Megawati's Cabinet are gender-aware. The ministry of women's
empowerment has been enlightened under Khofifah's leadership. The
bureaucrats were detrained and re-trained on their knowledge of
gender issues. Khofifah has done the hard part, now it is up to
her successor to continue the trend.

What are Megawati's weaknesses?

Her weakness is the same as that of any president leading this
country at this moment in time, in that she can't radically
support one or few issues because of the magnitude of problems
faced by Indonesia. She, and her Cabinet, must also prove to be
effective and progressive at the same time and keep in line with
the reform movement.

It will be difficult for Megawati to make any real change
considering the bureaucracy's old ways of doing things. She seems
to be very cautious, conventional, not easily provoked, not
radical and tends to avoid controversy, whereas the reform
movement is characterized by radicalism.

But we gave that chance to Gus Dur and he failed. Maybe
Megawati can be conventional in process but radical in thinking.
I'm referring to her strategy, so that she follows the rules of
the political game, but achieves radical reform objectives all
the same.

If she doesn't follow the rules of the game, she will achieve
nothing; in fact she might meet resistance from the bureaucracy
and face a deadlock. Khofifah managed to do this and it has
brought positive results. Maybe it is also because women prefer
cooperation to aggression.

Megawati has appointed Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto as State
Minister for Women's Empowerment. What do you know of her
experience?

I only know her as chairwoman of the Golkar Party's division
in charge of women issues and, like in other political parties,
the gender perspective in such divisions is fairly new.

But it should not be too difficult for her if the ministry
applies professional management because the ministry's staff have
been preparded under Khofifah's almost two-year term.

Kofifah tried to start rather radical moves such as
"mainstreaming" policies to get them in line with women's
interests. How should this effort be continued?

There should be commitment. Khofifah started it and now it's
up to her successor to continue this commitment, whether she will
be willing to push other ministries to become more gender
sensitive. Khofifah did this by approaching the health ministry
and justice ministry, among others, and compelling them to become
pro-gender. There are many feasible policies in these areas.
What was achieved under Khofifah?

Enabling cooperation between the government and NGOs was a
very positive step. Earlier we had difficulty approaching the
ministry because we did not share the same language. She also
became the activist within the government, tirelessly campaigning
her "mainstreaming" agenda from ministry to ministry, and
bureaucrats, though not the senior ones, would go to meetings
that they would never have attended before.

Do we still need the state ministry for women's empowerment?

Yes, definitely at this stage Indonesia still needs the
ministry. That Megawati retained this ministry is one important
step. Maybe it won't be needed in 20 years time, when there is
equality.