Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta, [email protected]
Only five of the 151 legislators (two of the original 153 died)
from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
had the guts on Monday to openly defy the instruction of their
party boss, Megawati Soekarnoputri, to save former ruling party
Golkar from a major political embarrassment.
The party's top executives, even high-profile politicians such
as Roy B.B. Janis, are also too scared to argue against Megawati's
seemingly affectionate attitude toward outgoing Jakarta Governor
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sutiyoso. Party members fully know that Sutiyoso,
the then Jakarta military commander, was also responsible for the
bloody attack against Megawati's supporters on July 27, 1996, and
there was no justifiable reason to reelect Sutiyoso to another
five-year term, but they could not prevent Megawati's inclination
toward Sutiyoso.
The total obedience of Megawati's followers does not stop
there. They undergo urine tests to order as Megawati wants to know
if anyone of her political loyalists has been taking drugs.
Megawati has also ordered all her ministers and government
officials to have urine tests. The results, however, are still
unknown.
The obedience of Megawati's followers is ironic, given that
they had hoped that the eldest daughter of the founding father
would end Soeharto's authoritarianism and bring prosperity and
justice to the nation. Many of them were victims of Soeharto's
iron-fisted leadership, sidelined in national politics, or simply
the jobless.
Megawati seems to have decided to forget the July 27, 1996
tragedy, when the military orchestrated the violent breakup of a
gathering of her supporters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on
that black Saturday. The incident skyrocketed Megawati to national
fame because she was portrayed as the most potent symbol of
Soeharto's victims.
It is understandable that Megawati has decided to save Golkar
chairman Akbar Tandjung from a House of Representatives political
inquiry, as evident in last week's voting -- she may have been
inspired by Golkar. Megawati is believed to have made up her mind
on Akbar and Sutiyoso at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar,
Central Jakarta. The house was once used by Soeharto in his
capacity as chairman of the Golkar board of patrons, where he
might have taken crucial decisions to crack down on the
opposition, including his attempt to scupper Megawati's political
career in 1996.
As in Golkar, where Soeharto had the final say on nearly all
Golkar affairs during his authoritarian rule, Megawati acts like
the supreme leader of PDI Perjuangan. From the election of the
party leadership at regency level to the suspension of a wayward
member -- all must await her petunjuk (direction).
Soeharto, who lives peacefully just a few hundred meters from
Megawati's residence, should be grateful to Megawati, although the
retired five-star general surely remembers how severely he treated
her father Sukarno before his death in 1970. When he recently fell
ill, President Megawati showed her willingness to reduce
Soeharto's suffering, although many were suspicious about the
timing of Soeharto's sickness. The legal proceedings regarding
Soeharto have barely begun.
While Megawati appears to be dominant over her party, there are
rising complaints from various sources about the activities of her
husband Taufik Kiemas. He has supported his wife since the 1970s,
when Soeharto treated Sukarno's children as pariahs. There is no
doubt about his sincerity to his wife. The question is how to
adjust his role to avoid the public perception that Taufik unduly
influences Megawati's administration.
Megawati has reportedly often told people around her there is
no way that Taufik could influence her decisions. But is that
enough to convince the public, while some PDI Perjuangan members
and Cabinet members acknowledge the rising and more disturbing
power of Taufik, a PDI Perjuangan legislator?
Taufik is one reason cited behind Megawati's stance on Sutiyoso
-- because people cannot find any other explanation for her firm
decision.
Like it or not, PDI Perjuangan has prepared fertile ground for
Megawati to potentially grow as a dictator, whose decisions must
be wholeheartedly accepted.
She is a charismatic leader and people love her father who led
the nation toward its independence. She followed his rise and
fall.
Megawati now serves the nation at the palace in which she grew
up and where Sukarno also worked as president. Many hope that she
will indeed bring prosperity, justice and democracy to the nation,
and not repeat her predecessors' mistakes -- including those of
both her father and Soeharto.