FAC Articles

Megawati's opponents await their chance
By Ken Ntalarana

JAKARTA - The unspecified support that President Megawati Sukarnoputri has promised for the United States-led international campaign against terrorism, especially against Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan, may provide fresh ammunition for the country's fundamentalist Muslims - who have long rejected her on the grounds of gender - to undermine her authority.

Megawati, however, has no other choice but to support the international anti-terrorism campaign. Otherwise Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim country, would be listed among countries suspected of harboring terrorists or sponsoring terrorism, an image that could isolate it from the world community both politically and economically. This is particularly true as rumors have been circulating that bin Laden might have left his hiding in Afghanistan and sneaked into the country.

Yet, supporting the US-led anti-terrorism "crusade", as President George W Bush calls it, would reinforce long-held suspicions among Indonesia's Muslim fundamentalists that Megawati, a daughter of founding father Sukarno, is anti-Islam, putting her in direct confrontation with Muslim fundamentalists who are seeking the imposition of Syariah Islam - Islamic law - in the country.

More than that, endorsing the US move to strike at Muslim countries suspected of harboring terrorists would arouse anger among Muslim fundamentalists that could be exploited by power-hungry politicians to boost their bargaining position against Megawati, or even to force her out of the office.

And one issue that can readily be brought up against Megawati is that of a woman becoming president. It has become public knowledge that the average Muslim in Indonesia still cannot accept Megawati's leadership because of her gender, as Islam does not allow a woman to become a leader, much less a head of state.

Just days after Megawati was sworn in as the country's fifth president on July 23, after members of the People's Consultative Assembly had impeached former president Abdurrahman Wahid for alleged corruption and incompetence, some Muslim fundamentalist groups met with her vice president, Hamzah Haz, who is also chairperson of the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), to vent their disappointment over the elevation of Megawati.

Sources at the House of Representatives say that Muslim-based parties belonging to the Axis Group have never been willing to give Megawati a free hand to govern the country, and continue to find ways to humiliate her. They are clearly disappointed with her as they received fewer Cabinet posts than they had expected.

In the 1999 presidential elections, the Axis Group, which consists of the PPP, the National Mandate Party, the Justice Party and the Crescent Star Party, successfully blocked Megawati's bid and elected Wahid as the country's fourth president, even though Megawati's party had received the majority of the popular vote.

"We still consider political parties belonging to the Axis Group as our opposition," said a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Megawati's party.

While condemning the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, fundamentalist Muslim groups such as the Islam Defense Front (FPI) and the Laskar Jihad (Holy War Troops) see the US-led campaign as a covert attack against Islam and Muslim countries, vowing to attack all US interests and those of its allies in the country. They have also been recruiting volunteers to be sent to Afghanistan once the US attacks the country accused of harboring Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 terror strikes in the US.

"The moment the US attacks Afghanistan we will immediately mobilize Muslim Indonesians to launch anti-America protests and besiege the US embassy in Jakarta as well as sweeping against US citizens," FPI chairman Al-Habib Muhammad Rizieq bin Hussein Syihab said.

"Coordination and consolidation are going on now and we are proud to tell you that the preparations [for besieging the US embassy and those of its allies] have already reached a satisfactory level," said Rizieq, adding that the day the US attacked Afghanistan would become the "awakening day" of Muslim solidarity across the world.

The deputy commander of the Laskar Jihad, Aip Syarifuddin, has also criticized the US plan to attack Afghanistan, saying that it would only ignite anger among Muslims throughout the world. "The US must first have concrete evidence that Osama is involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon," he said, adding that attacking Afghanistan without solid evidence would only ignite anger among Muslim communities across the world.

Megawati, who is currently visiting the United States, reiterated on Wednesday her condemnation of the "inhumane" attacks. "This is the position of my government on this issue. So, it is very clear ... Indonesia has always been against violence," she said.

If significant unrest does occur in Indonesia, it would clearly undermine Megawati's leadership and could lead Indonesia into further political instability and legal uncertainty, as well as heighten the security risk, making economic recovery even more elusive than ever.

Although Megawati still has the support of Indonesia's powerful military, doubt remains if it and the police will come to her side if they have to fight against Muslim fundamentalists, since many high-ranking officers are still disappointed with Megawati over the appointment of Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono as coordinating minister for political, social and security affairs and Agum Gumelar as transportation minister. The military leadership had wanted these positions to be given to active military officers, not to retired generals.

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