It is now clear that President Megawati Sukarnoputri has lost to challenger Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in an election notable for its orderliness and organization. Indonesians appear to have spoken decisively. Though the final count will not be available until next month, an overwhelming majority has rejected Megawati.
Megawati’s final defeat clearly came because it was seen that this highly qualified economist had lost the plot. The disappointment was the greater because when she came to power in 2001 there were high hopes that her intelligence and qualifications would allow her to grapple with Indonesia’s three key woes — extensive unemployment, widespread and highly corrosive corruption and a diverse country with a rising tide of different independence movements.
The daughter of independent Indonesia’s first President Sukarno, it was assumed that she would have the political savvy and clout, not least with the all-important army, to act decisively and quickly after the ineffective performance of her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid. In the event, Megawati proved herself indecisive and inept, failing, for instance, to take a lead in condemning the rising tide of terrorist violence that culminated in the Bali bombing atrocity. She also did little to tackle corruption and her policies failed to turn the economy around. The only act for which she received international acclaim was her statesmanlike attendance of the 2002 celebrations to mark the independence of East Timor from Indonesian rule. She compounded her shortcomings by becoming ever more aloof and removed from not only her people but senior officials.
Now the focus turns to her successor. Yudhoyono is a former general but is not seen as a creature of the military. In the closing days of the muddled Wahid presidency, when he was first minister of security, Yudhoyono refused to implement a state of emergency to deal with a rising tide of civil unrest and resigned from the government. There were at the time a few hard-line generals who would have liked nothing better than to seize control again and return the country to military dictatorship. Yudhoyono was clearly not prepared to see anything like a repeat of the 32 years of the ousted President Suharto. His reputation as a man of principle was enhanced by his unambiguous condemnation of terrorism in the wake of the Bali massacre. The success of the security forces in tracking down militants owes much to his leadership.
There are those who suggest that Yudhoyono is himself indecisive and tends to listen to too many opinions before he makes a decision. That may be a weakness in a general — and Yudhoyono never reached the highest echelons of the military — but it is not necessarily a weakness in a president. Indonesia is a country with many shades of opinion and a wise leader who is not prepared to be a dictator will listen. The important point is that once he has made up his mind, he will act firmly and consistently. That is what Indonesians have voted for — decisive action.
