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One year in: Mega
disappointment
By Richel Langit
JAKARTA - Her victory in the 1999 general
election was considered the ultimate symbol of people
power, and her ascension to the presidential post a year
ago this week was deemed necessary to save the country
from disintegration, and spare Indonesia's 215 million
people from the prolonged economic crisis.
But
after one year in office, President Megawati
Sukarnoputri, ushered into the country's top post after
members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
removed then president Abdurrahman Wahid for
incompetence on July 23, 2001, appears more concerned
with position than with the millions of Indonesians now
living in dire economic poverty.
And to a great
extent, Megawati, once considered Indonesia's most
reform-minded leader, has become a liability to the
country's reform process itself.
No wonder
recent polls carried out by national media showed that
most people were not satisfied with Megawati's
performance. A poll conducted by the leading national
daily Kompas, for example, showed that almost 72 percent
of 1,773 respondents said they were disappointed with
the Megawati administration, while a poll by the
Detik.com Internet news portal revealed that 70 percent
of its 1,000 respondents considered Megawati a failure.
Indeed, much-needed reforms, which many people
had thought would proceed smoothly considering the fact
that Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) controls most of the seats in the House
of Representatives (DPR), have come to a virtual halt on
all fronts mainly because of strong resistance from the
ruling party.
Debates on amendments to the 1945
constitution have hit a snag, with PDI Perjuangan, the
biggest faction in the MPR, the country's highest
legislative body that is authorized to amend the
constitution or write a new one, spearheading a call for
a return to the 1945 document. If accepted, PDI
Perjuangan's suggestion means changes made in the first,
second, and third phases of the constitutional amendment
process would have to be annulled, including the
introduction of direct presidential elections and the
scrapping of the MPR as an institution that has been
seen as a super state body that often distorts the
people's aspirations.
In the third phase of
constitutional amendment, MPR members agreed to adopt a
direct presidential system in favor of the current
district system. They also endorsed a proposal to change
the composition of the MPR so that it would make up of
only DPR members and Regional Representative Councils
(DPD), with all members elected. These changes, however,
were to be finalized in the fourth amendment currently
being deliberated by MPR members. And with the current
phase of amendment hitting a snag, direct presidential
elections might not take place in 2004.
A
further delay in the amendment would seriously affect
preparations for the 2004 general election, as both
amendments require changes in the current laws on
general elections and political parties. The government
has submitted bills on general election and political
party to the House, but the deliberation has been
painfully slow. Speculations are rife that Megawati's
PDI Perjuangan deliberately slows down the process with
the hope that by the time the two laws are passed, the
Election Commission will have no time to prepare,
forcing it to organize a district election system, which
is in line with the party's demand.
Not too long
ago, Megawati surprised the public at large by
suggesting that Indonesians were not ready yet for a
direct presidential election. Her statement runs
contrary to people's long demands for a direct
presidential election.
Worse still, Megawati's
PDI Perjuangan is now making backroom deal with Golkar,
the political bandwagon of former dictator Suharto's New
Order regime. PDI Perjuangan and Golkar are said to have
reached an agreement on presidential election, but
tradeoffs behind the deals have not been revealed for
public scrutiny.
In the legal sector, Megawati's
performance has been appalling. The prosecution of some
high-profile corrupters and high-ranking military
officers accused of human-rights violations materialized
not because of her commitment to the rule of law, but
more due to strong public and international pressure.
The prosecution of House Speaker Abkar Tandjung,
for example, was triggered not by her desire to wipe out
the country's endemic corruption but due to strong
public pressure. Akbar, who is also chairman of Golkar,
the second-biggest faction in the House, is standing
trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on a charge
of misappropriating Rp40 billion (US$4.7 million) in
funds of the National Bureau of Logistics in 1999. Many
people believe that the funds were used to finance
Golkar's campaign activities, a charge that could lead
to the party's dissolution if proved.
The
prosecution of a number of senior officials and military
personnel, including three army generals, accused of
human-rights violations in East Timor in 1999 is also
being carried out because of strong pressure from the
international community.
In any case, the
prosecution of both Tandjung and high-ranking military
officers is widely seen as a ploy to save them.
Tandjung's trial is generally believed to be an attempt
to prevent the House from setting up an investigation
team to look into the scandal, while the trial of army
generals aims at preventing the United Nations from
bringing them to the International Rights Tribunal.
Megawati has also chosen to develop a closer
relationship with the powerful military. The result is
that the military has more and more influenced
Megawati's policies, especially in dealing with ethnic
and religious conflicts throughout the country and
secessionist movements in Aceh, Ambon, and West Papua.
Moreover, Megawati has more and more turned a
deaf ear to people's aspirations. PDI Perjuangan, for
example, has blocked moves by legislators to set up a
special House investigation team to probe Tandjung's
corruption allegation, despite strong public pressure
demanding for the establishment of an investigation
team. Reliable party sources said that Megawati
personally instructed PDI Perjuangan legislators to
shoot down the move.
Megawati has also given her
unconditional support for the re-election of Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso, a former chief of the Jakarta
Military Command who had been declared a suspect in the
bloody attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian
Democratic Party in 1996. The attack killed a number of
Megawati's die-hard supporters. Taking her supporters
and attack victims by surprise, Megawati issued a
"recommendation" letter instructing PDI Perjuangan
legislators, the biggest faction in the local
legislative body, to support Sutiyoso, with a threat of
expulsion if they chose to disobey her instruction.
Despite vehement opposition by local councilors,
the provincial administration, students, and
non-governmental organizations, Megawati is intent on
declaring a state of emergency in Aceh, where the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) has been waging a war for
independence since 1970s.
It is not surprising,
therefore, that some of Megawati's closest aides have
left her, the latest one being legislator Indira
Damayanti Sugondo, who decided to quit PDI Perjuangan
after the party refused to push for the establishment of
an independent team to investigate Tandjung. Earlier,
legislator Sophan Sophian, considered a very close aide
of Megawati, also resigned as a PDI Perjuangan
representative in the House for the same reason.
Signs of rebellion against Megawati have also
become apparent within her party. When the House
convened for a plenary meeting to decide whether or not
it would establish an investigation team to question
Tandjung, Megawati instructed PDI Perjuangan legislators
to vote against the move. But, when the voting did take
place, as many as 94 chose to abstain, five voted in
favor of establishing a probe team, and only three voted
against. It meant many PDI Perjuangan legislators chose
to defy Megawati's instruction.
Indeed, Megawati
has changed for the worse. Her pro-poor image has
vanished without a trace. Gone is her image as someone
who understands the feelings, sufferings, and the plight
of poor, marginalized people, as someone who fights for
the interest of her people and their well-being.
Some of her closest aides in PDI Perjuangan have
branded Megawati as an authoritarian leader who pretends
to be a democrat by soliciting input from fellow party
members but decides everything on her own.
"She
is an authoritarian leader. She listens to the opinions
of others but eventually decides things on her own, and
nobody dares to defy her," PDI Perjuangan legislator
Mochtar Buchori said recently when asked to comment on
Megawati's leadership style.
"As a friend, I
don't even recognize Megawati anymore," said Eros
Djarot, formerly a noted PDI Perjuangan activist who
decided to set up his own party - the Bung Karno
Nationalist Party - as a protest to Megawati's
insensitivity to the people's aspirations.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
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