Interim Indonesia Update

Summary

Megawati was elected President at 5 pm today, 23 July, with a vote of 591 to 0. The outcome was always known, so that the final vote was something of an anti-climax for most of those in the MPR hall. Her husband, Taufik Kiemas, was brought to tears at the end.

Despite the sense of anti-climax, there is a real hope now that some order can be restored to Government. Megawati has already tonight outlined transitional arrangements for government, underlining that she is in control.

Gus Dur has been almost completely abandoned by the political elite. Jakarta is quiet. So also is East Java. The Rupiah had strengthened even before the vote to close to 10,000 to the US dollar. Hopes are strong that this can be a genuine new start.

23 July – A Long Day

23 July began at 1.10 am with the declaration by the President of a State of Emergency. On the basis of the alleged State of Emergency, the President’s Decree went on to dissolve both the Parliament (DPR) and the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), establish a new Commission to conduct general elections in a year, and to dissolve the Golkar party.

At this point, the President’s support had dwindled to almost nothing – a sad rag-bag of NGOs, NU figures, Megawati’s sister Rachmawati, and parties which had not won a single seat in the DPR in the 1999 elections.

By the early morning, the negative consequences of the Decree were making themselves obvious. The Armed Forces and the Police were opposed. The Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs, Agum Gumelar, resigned because, he said, he had failed in his task of preventing the Decree. He stayed on today, however, to do the one thing Gus Dur did not want him to do – secure the Special Session.

The Decree accelerated the political response from the Special Session. At 8.20 am the MPR reconvened with an agenda aimed at dismissing Gus Dur before the day was out.

The Axe Falls

The Special Session began with the reading out of the opinion of the Chief Justice on Gus Dur’s Decree. The opinion comprehensively demolished every aspect of the Decree.

Armed with this opinion, the MPR voted immediately to declare the Decree illegal. The vote was 599 against the Decree with 0 for it.

The plan was that the election of Megawati would be completed by midday, but the formalities and paper work took far longer than expected. At 3pm, the MPR resumed for a final vote on Gus Dur’s presidency and to appoint Megawati as his successor.
The MPR had two draft decisions before it. One dismissed Gus Dur for flagrant violations of the Constitution. The second appointed Megawati Soekarnoputri the President for the remainder of Gus Dur’s term until 2004. Only one vote was required to adopt both decisions simultaneously.

At about 4 pm, the MPR began voting on both draft decisions. The final vote was 591 in favour, with 0 against. It was all over for Gus Dur. Megawati was President-elect.
At 5 pm, Megawati was sworn in as President. She gave an elegant, positive-sounding speech urging cooperation to solve the myriad problems of the Republic.
Oddly, after months of tension, there was no great jubilation as there was at the time of the election of Gus Dur in 1999. There was a great deal of relief, however, that some order and commonsense could now be brought to Government.

The Vice-President

A Vice-President will be elected on Wednesday 25 July. The parties eventually decided that to leave the position open for several months would be an unwelcome political distraction from the tasks of Government. Plus, according to the current Rules of Procedure, only this Special Session can elect the Vice-President.

The field for Vice-President is entirely open.

Security

Jakarta is remarkably calm tonight. There have been scattered bomb threats during the day, but no real threat to public order. The MPR itself has been ringed with Police and the Army.

East Java also seems to be calm.

By late today, Gus Dur had few friends left apart from the NU figures, the fringe NGOs and the malcontents he had gathered at the State Palace. Last week, a friend had said that Indonesian politics could be cruel. Gus Dur had already been abandoned then by the business people who had once flocked to him seeking favours. They knew he was a dead duck and no longer bothered.

Tonight he is very alone. As one speaker said today in the MPR, a great democrat has fallen, destroyed by his own autocratic, undemocratic megalomania.

By Wednesday evening, there will be a new Vice-President. In the next week or so, there will be a new Cabinet. Megawati has already tonight outlined transitional arrangements for government, underlining that she is in control. As the celebrations fade, the question will come to focus on whether Megawati can deliver on the deeply held hopes for better Government, which made her President today.

23 July 2001