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President of Indonesia
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In
office
23 July 2001 – 20 October 2004 |
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Vice
President
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HamzahHaz
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Preceded
by
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Abdurrahman Wahid
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Succeeded
by
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SusiloBambangYudhoyono
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Vice President of Indonesia
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In
office
26 October 1999 – 23 July 2001 |
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President
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Abdurrahman Wahid
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Preceded
by
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BacharuddinJusufHabibie
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Succeeded
by
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HamzahHaz
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Personal
details
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Born
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23 January 1947 (age 65)
Yogyakarta, Dutch East Indies |
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Political
party
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Democratic Party-Struggle
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Spouse(s)
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SurendroSupjarso
(d. 1970)
Hassan Gamal Ahmad Hassan (1972) TaufiqKiemas (1973–present) |
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Children
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Mohammad
RizkiPramata
Mohammad Prananda Puan Maharani |
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Alma mater
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Padjadjaran University
University of Indonesia |
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Religion
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Islam
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In this Indonesian
name, the name "Sukarnoputri" is a
patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the
given name "Megawati".
DiahPermata Megawati
SetiawatiSukarnoputri born 23 January
1947), also known simply as Megawati, is an Indonesian politician, and leader
of the opposition party PDI-P. She served as the President of
Indonesia from 23 July 2001 to 20 October 2004. She was the country's first female President, and the fourth woman to
lead a predominantly Muslim nation. She is also the first Indonesian leader to
be born after independence. Megawati is the daughter of Indonesia's first
president, Sukarno.
After serving as Vice-President under Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati became
President when Wahid was removed from office in 2001. She ran for re-election
in the 2004
presidential election but was defeated by SusiloBambangYudhoyono. She sought a rematch 2009
presidential election, losing again to Yudhoyono.
Early life
President Sukarno, with his children
Megawati and Guntur, while receiving Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru along with his daughter Indira Gandhi.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was born in
Yogyakarta to President Sukarno, who had declared Indonesia's independence from
the Netherlands in 1945 and Fatmawati, one of Sukarno's nine wives. Megawati was
Sukarno's second child and first daughter. As a child, Megawati grew up in her
father's Merdeka Palace. She would dance in front of her father's
guests and developed a hobby for gardening. Megawati was 19 when her father was
overthrown and succeeded by a military government led by Suharto. Sukarno's family was ignored by the new
government provided they stayed out of politics.
Megawati attended Padjadjaran
University in Bandung to study agriculture,
but dropped out in 1967 to be with her father following his fall from power. In
1970, the year her father died, Megawati went to the University of
Indonesia to study psychology but dropped out after two years. She is a practisingMuslim but also follows traditional Javanese beliefs.
Political career
Member of the Legislative
Branch
In 1986, Suharto gave the status of
Proclamation Hero to Sukarno in a ceremony attended by Megawati herself.
Suharto's acknowledgment of Sukarno enabled the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI), a government-sanctioned party, to run a campaign
centered on Sukarno nostalgia in the lead up to the 1987 Legislative Elections.
Up to that time, Megawati had seen herself as a housewife, but in 1987 she
joined PDI and ran for a People's
Representative Council (DPR) membership. PDI was only too keen to accept
Megawati and boost their own image. Megawati quickly became popular, her status
as Sukarno's daughter overruling her general lack of oratorical skills.
Although PDI came last in the 1987 Legislative Elections, Megawati was elected
to the DPR. Like all members of the DPR she also became a member of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Chairperson of PDI
Megawati was not re-elected to the DPR or
the MPR, but continued as a PDI member. In December 1993, PDI held a National
Congress. as was always the case when New
Order
opposition parties hold their congresses, the Government actively interfered in
the Congress to ensure that the opposition parties would be tame towards them.
As the Congress approached, three contenders for the Chairpersonship of PDI
became evident. The first candidate was incumbent Suryadi who had started to
become overly critical of the Government, the second candidate was Budi Harjono
a Government-friendly figure whom the Government wanted to win the
Chairpersonship, and finally, there was Megawati. Megawati's candidacy received
such overwhelming support that her election at the Congress would only be a
formality.
Sensing this, the Government began to
maneuver to ensure that Megawati would not be elected. When the Congress
assembled, the Government began to stall and all attempts to hold the
Chairperson election were delayed. A situation then developed whereby if PDI
did not elect a Chairperson by the end of the Congress, the Congress would not
be allowed to continue because their permit to assemble would run out. As the
hours ticked down to the end of the Congress, troops began gathering at the
site of the Congress. Finally with two hours before the permit to assemble ran
out, Megawati called a press conference. Megawati stated at the press
conference, that because she enjoyed the support of a majority of PDI members,
she was now the de facto Chairperson of PDI. Despite her relative lack of
political experience, she was popular in part for her status as the daughter of
Sukarno, but also because she was seen as free of corruption and having
admirable personal qualities. Under her leadership, PDI gained a large following
among the urban poor and both urban and rural middle classes.
On the other hand the Government was
outraged that they failed to prevent Megawati's election as Chairperson of PDI.
They never acknowledged Megawati although Megawati's self-appointment to the
Chairpersonship had been ratified in 1994 by PDI. Finally in 1996, the
Government managed to convene a Special National Congress in Medan. This Congress, attended by anti-Megawati
figures, re-elected Suryadi to the Chairpersonship of PDI. Megawati and her
camp refused to acknowledge the results of the Government-backed congress, and
PDI was divided into pro-Megawati and anti-Megawati camps.
Suryadi began threatening to take back
PDI's Headquarters in Jakarta. This threat came true during the morning of 27
July 1996. Suryadi's supporters (reportedly with the Government's backing)
attacked the PDI Headquarters and faced resistance from Megawati supporters who
had been stationed there ever since the National Congress in Medan. In the
ensuing fight, Megawati's supporters managed to hold on to the headquarters. A
riot then ensued, followed by a crackdown by the Government. The Government
later blamed the riots on the People's
Democracy Party (PRD); they recognized
Suryadi's PDI as the official PDI and also banned Megawati from competing in
the 1997 Legislative Election.
Despite what seemed to be a political
defeat, Megawati scored a moral victory and her popularity grew. When the time
came for the 1997 Legislative Elections, Megawati and her supporters threw
their support behind the United
Development Party (PPP), the other political party that the Government had
allowed to exist.
Reformasi
In mid 1997, Indonesia began to be affected
by the Asian Financial
Crisis
and showed severe economic distress by late January 1998 when the rupiah fell
to nearly 15,000 against the dollar, compared to only 4,000 in early December.
This combined with increasing public anger at pervasive corruption, culminated
in May 1998 with Suharto's resignation from the Presidency and the assumption
of that office by Vice President B. J. Habibie. With removal of the restrictions on her,
Megawati began to consolidate her political position. In October 1998, her
supporters held a National Congress whereby Megawati's PDI would now be known
as the Indonesian
Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) to differentiate itself from the PDI of Suryadi.
Megawati was elected as Chairperson and was nominated as the Party's
Presidential candidate.
Megawati's PDI-P, together with Abdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening
Party (PKB) and AmienRais' National Mandate
Party
(PAN), became the leading forces of the Reform movement. Despite their
popularity, Megawati, Wahid, and Rais adopted a moderate stance, preferring to
wait until the 1999 Legislative Elections to begin taking power. In November
1998, Megawati, together with Wahid, Rais, and Hamengkubuwono X reiterated their commitment to Reform
through the Ciganjur Statement.
As the 1999 legislative elections
approached, there was hope that Megawati, Wahid, and Amien would form a
political coalition against President Habibie and Golkar. In May 1999, this hope
came close to being a reality when AlwiShihab held a press conference at his house
during which Megawati, Wahid, and Amien were to announce that they would work
together. At the last minute, Megawati chose not to attend because she decided
that she could not trust Amien. In June 1999, the 1999 legislative elections
were held. PDI-P was undoubtedly the most popular political party and it came
first with 33% of the votes.
With PDI-P's Legislative Election victory,
the prospects of Megawati becoming President became more real. This prospect
was detested by the United
Development Party (PPP) who did not want Indonesia to have a female
President. In preparation for the 1999 MPR General Session, PDI-P formed a
loose coalition with PKB. As the MPR General Session approached, it seemed as
if the Presidential election was going to be contested by Megawati and Habibie
but by late June, Amien had managed to draw the Islamic parties together in a
coalition called the Central Axis. The Presidential election also became a
three way race when Amien floated the idea of nominating Wahid for President;
but Wahid did not provide a clear response to this.
1999 MPR General Session
Megawati's PDI-P and PKB coalition faced
its first test when the MPR assembled to choose its Chairman. Megawati threw
her support behind Matori Abdul Djalil, the Chairman of PKB. Matori was
overwhelmingly defeated by Amien, who in addition to enjoying Central Axis
support was also backed by Golkar. The Golkar and Central Axis coalition then
struck again when they secured Akbar Tanjung's election as Head of DPR. At this stage,
people became wary that Megawati, who best represented reform, was going to be
obstructed by the political process and that the status quo was going to be
preserved. PDI-P supporters began to gather in Jakarta.
With the rejection of Habibie's
accountability speech and Habibie's withdrawal from the Presidential race, the
Presidential election to be held on 20 October 1999 came down to Megawati and
Wahid. Megawati took an early lead, but was overtaken and lost with 313 votes
compared to Wahid's 373. Megawati's loss provoked her supporters to begin
rioting. Riots raged in Java and Bali. In the City of Solo, PDI-P masses managed to
attack Amien's house.
The next day, the MPR assembled to elect
the Vice President. PDI-P had considered nominating Megawati for Vice
President, but were concerned that the Central Axis and Golkar coalition would
once again thwart her. Finally, PKB took the initiative and nominated Megawati
as a Vice Presidential candidate. She faced stiff competition from HamzahHaz, Akbar Tanjung, and General Wiranto. Well aware of the riots
that had happened after Megawati's Presidential election defeat, Akbar and
Wiranto withdrew from the Vice Presidential race. Hamzah on the other hand
insisted on competing with Megawati. Finally, Megawati defeated Hamzah with 396
votes to 284 to become Vice President. In her inauguration speech, she called
for her supporters to calm down.
Vice Presidency
Work as Vice President
As Vice President, Megawati had considerable
authority by virtue of her commanding a lot of the seats in the DPR. Wahid
delegated to her the problems in Ambon, although she was not successful. By the
time the MPR Annual Session assembled in August 2000, many considered Wahid to
be ineffective as President or at the very least as an administrator. Wahid
responded to this by issuing a Presidential Decree, giving Megawati day-to-day
control of the Government.
2000 PDI-P National
Congress
The First PDI-P Congress was held in Semarang, Central Java in April 2000, at which Megawati was
re-elected as the Chairperson of PDI-P for a 2nd term.
The Congress was noted as one where
Megawati consolidated her position within PDI-P by taking harsh measures to
remove potential rivals. During the election for the Chairperson,
two other candidates emerged in the form of Eros Djarot and Dimyati Hartono. Both Eros and Dimyati
ran for the Chairpersonship because they did not want Megawati to hold the
PDI-P Chairpersonship while concurrently being Vice President. When Eros
finally received his nomination from the South Jakarta branch, membership problems arose and made
his nomination void. Eros was then not allowed to go and participate in the
congress. Disillusioned with what he perceived to be a cult of personality developing around
Megawati, Eros left PDI-P. In July 2002, he formed the Freedom
Bull National Party. Although Dimyati's candidacy was not opposed as harshly
as Eros, he was removed from his position as Head of PDI-P's Central Branch. He
kept his position as a People's
Representative Council (DPR) member but retired in February 2002. In April
2002, Dimyati formed the Our Homeland of Indonesia Party (PITA).
Relationship with Wahid
and rise to the Presidency
Main article: Post-Suharto Era
Megawati had an ambivalent relationship
with Wahid. During the Cabinet reshuffle of August 2000 for example, Megawati
was not present for the announcement of the new Cabinet line-up. At another
occasion, when the political tide began to rise up against Wahid, Megawati
defended her President and lashed out against critics of the Government. In
2001, Megawati began to distance herself from Wahid as a Special Session of the
MPR approached and the prospects of her becoming President began to get better.
Although she refused to make any specific comments, she showed signs of
preparing herself to be President, such as holding a meeting with party leaders
a day before the Special Session was due to start.
Presidency
On July 23, 2001, the People's Consultative
Assembly assembled. Its members unanimously removed Wahid from office before
appointing Megawati as President. She thus became the fourth woman to lead a
Muslim nation (after Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Khaleda Zia and HasinaWajed of Bangladesh).
She ran for re-election in the 2004 presidential
election, hoping to become the first woman elected in her own right as head of
state in a Muslim nation. However, she was defeated by SusiloBambangYudhoyono in the second round,
held on 20 September 2004. She famously refused to congratulate the new
president in public.
Post-Presidency
On 11 September 2007 Megawati announced her
2009 reelection bid at a gathering of the PDI-P (Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle). SoetardjoSoerjoguritno confirmed her willingness to be nominated as
her party's presidential candidate. However, she failed to win this election to
the incumbent President Yudhoyono.
Presidential elections
2014
On 24. February 2012, Megawati distanced
herself from polls that placed her as a top contender for the Indonesian
presidential election, 2014. Megawati, the Chairwoman of the PDI-P party (Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle) appealed to her party at a gathering in Yogyakarta to focus on PDI-P's current priorities.
Nonetheless, a domain name appears to have been registered in her
name.
Megawati's last race in the Indonesian
presidential election, 2009 ended with the reelection of SusiloBambangYudhoyono and was overshadowed by
her calls to change Indonesia's voter registration procedure, obliquely suggesting that Yudhoyono's supporters
were trying to manipulate the vote. Megawati and her running mate PrabowoSubianto came in second with
26.79% of the vote.
Family
Megawati's first husband, First Lieutenant
SurendroSupjarso, was killed in a plane crash in Irian Jaya in 1970. In 1972, she married Hassan Gamal
Ahmad Hassan, an Egyptian diplomat. The marriage
was annulled shortly after. She married TaufiqKiemas, her present husband, in 1973. They have
three children, Mohammad RizkiPramata, Mohammad Prananda and Puan Maharani, now
in their 30s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawati_Sukarnoputri
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