Critics Say Megawati Is Authoritarian
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(Indonesia) President Megawati Sukarnoputri, left |
By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent
JAKARTA,
July 19 (IslamOnline) – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri
is being tagged an authoritarian perpetuating the heavy handed rule of
former President Suharto, the same leader she fought and help oust
from power five years ago, news agencies in Jakarta said on Friday.
Analysts
in Jakarta said the once popular opposition leader has developed
authoritarian and aloof traits during her one year as the nation's
leader. This tendency could undermine democracy.
Her
own party members and once closest allies have urged the president not
to turn democracy into a farce and not to sacrifice the gains made
since 1998 for personal advantage.
Mochtar
Buchori, a legislator from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Struggle) and once one of her closest aides, said
Megawati is “authoritarian and aloof” in a statement to the
Jakarta Post.
Officials
in Jakarta said Megawati disliked criticism and this forced her
colleagues and senior officials to please her, leading to a nasty
situation where the lady president thought she was in total control of
the situation.
Mochtar
and another legislator, Indira Damayanti Sugondo, who recently
tendered her resignation from the PDI Perjuangan faction in the House
of Representatives, said that by nature Megawati did not like to be
criticized, the Post wrote.
"I
used to often meet her (Megawati) before she became vice president.
But she soon ditched me after she found I wasn't going to go out of my
way to please her," recounted Mochtar.
"She
prefers to embrace newcomers as they'll go that extra mile to keep her
happy," he added.
He
asserted that the President also cultivated a "feudalistic
bureaucracy", which tended to discourage her subordinates from
telling the truth.
Rumors
in Jakarta say that Megawati has concluded an alliance with the former
party of deposed president Suharto, the Golkar Party, led by Akbar
Tanjung the speaker of the Parliament (DPR).
Both
parties’ control a majority of seats in the parliament and in the
highest body of the country the legislature (MPR). The MPR is holding
a special session next month and there are fears in the presidency
that the MPR session might propose a vote of no confidence against the
first lady president of Indonesia.
It
is through such a session that Megawati became president in 2000
following the ouster of Abdurrahman Wahid by the MPR.
There
are fears in Jakarta that Megawati Sukarnoputri may be forced to
impose an emergency if she is bound to lose power through the special
session of the MPR.
However,
sources told IslamOnline that this is an unlikely event since the
Golkar and the PDI had enough seats to control the Parliament and the
Legislature at their own ease until the crucial 2004 elections.
The
public's discontent with and distrust of Megawati's government has
mounted since she backed the reelection of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso
for a second five-year term at the expense of one of her own party
members.
Discontent
against Megawati rose to its high this week with a massive rally in
Jakarta against Governor Sutiyoso. Sutiyoso is accused of involvement
in the July 27, 1996, attack on Megawati's party headquarters when he
was the Jakarta military commander.
Thousands
of people from all walks of life staged rallies in different parts of
the city to object to Governor Sutiyoso's accountability speech, which
was presented before the City Council on Thursday.
They
cited Sutiyoso's poor performance during his five-year term and voiced
their objection to the nomination of Sutiyoso as a gubernatorial
candidate for the next one, Antara News agency said.
The
demonstrations were staged mainly at the Council building on Central
Jakarta, which was tightly guarded, causing traffic jams in the area
for hours.
Megawati
once blamed students and government servants for staging rallies in
the heart of Jakarta, saying that she could not tolerate such rallies.
Her
actions within her own party have also earned her the title of
“killer of democracy” by several observers and critics. They say
she should not have ignored the wishes of her constituents at the
grassroots level.
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