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Megawati lambasted at
home
By Richel Langit
JAKARTA
- Praised by foreign countries for her swift move
against suspected terrorist groups or individuals in
Indonesia, President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been
widely criticized at home for showing poor leadership in
the country's war against terrorism.
After the
deadly Bali terrorist attacks on October 12,
politicians, influential Muslim leaders, and
civil-society groups threw their full weight behind
Megawati, urging her to take necessary measures and lead
the country in going after suspected terrorist groups
and individuals. The same politicians, religious
leaders, and civil-society groups also waited patiently
for Megawati to spell out her policies against
terrorism, standing ready to participate in any national
campaign to spare the country from terrorism.
But Megawati failed. She did not come out to
explain her policies in dealing with terrorism that has
clearly wreaked havoc on the country's economy. She did
not reach out to the Indonesian House of Representatives
nor did she invite the people at large to join hands
tracking down terrorist networks. For Megawati, it was a
business as usual, showing no sense of urgency in
dealing with terrorism.
Megawati, who took over
the national leadership in July 2001 after members of
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) fired then
president Abdurrahman Wahid for incompetence, did
everything right at the beginning of the country's
anti-terrorism drive. She addressed the nation about the
Bali blasts and offered condolences to families of those
killed in the fatal explosion. She visited the site one
day after the blast. She also issued two government
regulations on anti-terrorism that provide strong legal
grounds for police officers to act against suspected
terrorist networks operating in the country.
She
also cracked down on militant Muslim groups, whose
members are suspected of being involved in terrorist
acts. Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, chairman of the
Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), was arrested and put
under police detention for his alleged involvement in a
string of church bombings in 2000. Habib Rizieq Shihab,
chairman of the Islam Defense Front (FPI), was also
detained and charged with inciting his followers to
conduct raids against nightspots and entertainment
centers in Jakarta. MMI and FPI are Muslim militant
organizations that have been campaigning for the
establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia. The
arrests of these Muslim leaders has been praised by the
two biggest mainstream Muslim organizations - the
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.
Unfortunately, Megawati did not address the
nation about the extent of terrorism threats and her
policies to address the problem, leaving the Indonesian
people in a quandary about who was in charge of the
country.
This might prove to be too costly for
Megawati when election time comes in 2004. Most
Indonesians are now more convinced than ever that
Megawati, chairwoman of the country's biggest political
party - the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) - simply does not have the necessary skills
to lead a nation as big as Indonesia.
Bachtiar
Effendy of the Syarif Hidayattulah University criticized
Megawati as a weak leader, reflected in the government's
poor performance in dealing with terrorism. "The
government's performance in dealing with the terrorist
attacks shows Megawati's limited leadership capacity.
Normally, a politician would take advantage of momentum
like this [the Bali terrorist attacks] to gain more
political support, but Megawati does not," Effendy said.
Legislator Sutradara Gintings concurred with
Effendy, saying that Megawati's leadership was not
effective in handling the crisis and uniting the nation.
"We the people need strong leadership in times of
crisis. But we don't have it now," Gintings said.
Even Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, who played a
critical role in catapulting Megawati into the
presidential seat last year, rebukes Megawati for her
weak leadership. Indonesia, he said, has come to a point
of no return and that the government and "good
Indonesians" have to act decisively against terrorists.
According to Rais, Megawati has to take the
responsibility and give direction to a problem like
terrorism.
It is not at all surprising,
therefore, that some quarters have slowly questioned
Megawati's decision to detain Ba'asyir, who has been
accused as a terrorist by neighboring countries
Singapore and Malaysia.
Some factions in the
Indonesian House of Representatives - notably Vice
President Hamzah Haz's United Development Party, in
tandem with Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril
Ihza Mahendra's Crescent Star Party - have openly
rejected the two government regulations on
anti-terrorism. Without the support of these Muslim
political parties, it would be almost impossible for
Megawati to act against militant groups believed to have
links with international terrorist network like
al-Qaeda.
After more than one year in office,
Megawati had also been criticized for her indecisiveness
in prosecuting corruption. In the trial of House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung, for example, Megawati's PDI Perjuangan
had quashed any attempts to unseat Akbar, although he
has been convicted of corruption.
Political
analyst Daniel Sparinga of the Surabaya, East Java-based
Airlangga University summed it up: "To replace President
Megawati now is not possible despite the fact that we
have lost our hopes for a better future. The best option
might be to leave it [the current administration] until
after the 2004 general election. It is not actually fair
for the nation as a whole but it is the best we can do."
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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