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NEWS ANALYSIS
Megawati comes to powerInternational fanfare heralded President Megawati Sukarnoputri's rise to power in July.
The daughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno became the country's fourth leader in as many turbulent years. Like her father, embattled leader Abdurrahman Wahid was also ousted amid allegations of misrule. A shocked Wahid, popularly known as 'Gus Dur', made a last minute attempt to hold on to his job by declaring a state of emergency and ordering parliament dissolved. The politically astute Muslim cleric landed the top job when congress elected him president that year. To appease the anger of Megawati's supporters, parliament elected her as his vice-president. However, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) voted 591-0 to repeal the legislative act that put Wahid in power only 20 months previously, leaving the seat open for Megawati. Thousands of police and troops were deployed in and around the capital Jakarta as Wahid's supporters gathered on the streets outside the presidential palace from where he refused to leave. Despite Wahid's downfall, neither East Java nor other parts of the unruly archipelago erupted into violence as many feared. The 54-year-old Megawati, who ranks as the country's most popular politician, appealed to Indonesians to put their differences aside and build a great nation. She apologized to the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya for decades of human rights abuses, albeit with warnings against independence, and outlined a vision of restored order in the world's largest Muslim nation. While she is adored by millions of loyal followers, little was known about her political aptitude. Many observers still wonder if Megawati's rise to power was a result of her own cunning, or the will of others who wish to govern through her. Her task is still an daunting one as Indonesia seeks to reinvigorate its flailing economy and pay off a spiraling debt. To attract foreign investors back Megawati will have to help
repair Indonesia's battered image by boosting the country's political and social
stability. Legislators are expected to urge the president to show stronger leadership in 2002 and take a more hands-on approach to ensure much needed reforms are pushed through. However, this could mean political suicide for Megawati with the potential for unpopular policies and autocratic rule that has been all too familiar in the eyes of the Indonesian public. In the past any sign of political and economic wrangling has given the military both the justification and room to reassert its influence in Indonesia's internal affairs, their time may still come. Direct presidential elections are not expected before 2004, which
is a long time in Indonesia's political landscape.
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