Megawati Sukarnoputri: From president's daughter to vice president

Abstract

Abstract Megawati Sukarnoputri, like Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh, is the daughter of a “founding father” of her country who has sought political power in order to redeem his legacy. Her ability to interpret this legacy flexibly (enabling her to adjust to changed circumstances) and to symbolize not only her father but, by her silent suffering at the hands of the authoritarian government of President Suharto, purity and decency as well, largely explains her political success. She stood for Parliament in 1987 and 1992 as a member of the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) and became leader of this party in 1993 despite government hostility toward her. Her failure in 1995 to repudiate a nomination for the presidency concentrated the wrath of Suharto upon her. In June and July 1996, he engineered her removal from the PDI leadership and was behind an attack on her party headquarters by government thugs in which at least five party members died. Suharto was obliged to resign from office in May 1998, and a parliamentary election was held in June 1999. Megawati's party obtained the largest proportion of the vote: 34 percent, followed by Golkar with 22 percent, and the National Awakening Party of her almost-blind friend, Abdurrahman Wahid with 12 percent. However, her silences, which had been so eloquent in the Suharto period when it was dangerous to speak out, became a distinct political liability in Indonesia's emerging talk shop of democracy. Consequently, she was unable to convert her strong parliamentary result into a successful presidential bid, and was out-maneuvered for the top office by Wahid himself showing a scant regard for his erstwhile democratic principles. Rioting by Megawati's supporters convinced him of the wisdom of having her as his deputy. Consequently, he worked hard (and successfully) to secure her victory in the vice-presidential ballot. “We make a perfect team,” he commented later. “I can't see and she can't talk.”