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Indonesia’s presidential front-runner battles the puppet image
JAKARTA - When one of Indonesia's most powerful politicians wanted
to be part of a new government, he did not approach Joko "Jokowi"
Widodo, the front-runner in next week's presidential election.
Instead, sources say, he went to the home of Jokowi's political patron,
a former president who did not impress in her short tenure and who many
fear will be the power behind the throne if the favourite wins the July
9 election.
The politician, Aburizal Bakrie of the Golkar party, was rebuffed by ex-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
But the fact Bakrie went to Megawati, not Jokowi, to seek an alliance
underlines the biggest worry about the front-runner—he may become
president but will not be in charge. Critics say he will defer to
Megawati and she will call the shots in the new government in Southeast
Asia's biggest economy.
It is an image Jokowi
does little to dispel with his public displays of deference to Megawati.
Interviews with senior members of his camp suggest frustration with his
modest mien, but they were adamant he will not be anyone's stooge.
"One thing I can assure you, you cannot dictate to Jokowi, he has his
own mind," said Luhut Panjaitan, a former trade minister who quit
Bakrie's Golkar party to help run the Jokowi campaign.
"People say he's a puppet of Megawati, but I promise you, no. He's very
polite and very humble but that doesn't mean that he'll say yes to
everything you say,"
Jokowi has a filmstar
following in Indonesia. Born in poverty, he has stormed his way to the
top rungs of leadership with a clean image and a reputation for
competence in local government, a reversal of the autocracy, corruption
and power politics that have weighed down the country for decades.
He became mayor of his hometown Solo in 2005 and governor of Jakarta in
2012 after his populist approach and willingness to stand up to
powerful regional officials won national attention. The only real worry
about him, analysts say, is his relationship with Megawati and how it
may affect state policy if he wins.
Panjaitan,
who was present at the meeting between Bakrie and Megawati, said after
the rebuff, the Golkar party chief went over to the rival camp of the
other presidential candidate, former general Prabowo Subianto.
"I said to Bakrie...Why do we always have to make transactions like
this? It doesn't set a good example for the public, to the young
generation," Panjaitan said.
A spokesman for
Bakrie told Reuters the Golkar chairman had conveyed to his party that
negotiations with both sides had gone well.
"What Bakrie told us was that during the meeting with Prabowo, they
discussed national interests and deals were not discussed," said Lalu
Mara Satri Wangsa, who is also vice secretary general of Golkar.
But a senior politician in his Golkar party, Fahmi Idris, said Prabowo
has promised about seven seats in the cabinet in exchange for support.
"Yes, Bakrie was upset (by Megawati's rebuff)," Idris said.
Puppet president
On the campaign trail, Prabowo repeatedly warns against electing a
"puppet" president, suggesting Jokowi is little more than a
president-for-hire who would be tightly on the leash of his chief
political backer. Opinion polls say Jokowi continues to lead the former
special forces general, although the gap has narrowed and many voters
are undecided.
Megawati is the daughter of
Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, and dominates the Indonesian
Democratic Party-Struggle, the country's biggest party and Jokowi's main
source of support.
She failed three times to be
elected herself but did become president in 2001, when as vice
president she stepped up to replace the impeached President Abdurrahman
Wahid. Her short term was characterized by indecisiveness, a rise in
corruption and a failure to crack down on militancy after the Bali
bombings of 2002 that killed more than 200 people and were blamed on
Islamic extremists.
She was widely expected to
make a fourth try this July but in the end threw her party behind the
hugely popular Jokowi, tipped by opinion polls at the time to win
easily. Some analysts say she may be happier wielding power behind the
scenes.
Jokowi, 53, is from central Java, a
populous province on Indonesia's central island that is known for the
hierarchical Javanese culture which prizes a reserved, respectful
manner.
"He is his own man. But he is Javanese
and always listens to input from his seniors...In his eyes, Megawati is
his senior," said one close aide to Megawati, who declined to be
identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"He would seek advice on certain issues from Megawati, but he is not
being guided by her. That is crucial. He also seeks advice from other
senior people that he feels have more experience than him, not just
Megawati."
Tougher than Prabowo
Campaign manager Panjaitan is one of a group of former generals who make little effort to hide their antipathy towards their former colleague Prabowo, the other presidential hopeful.
Campaign manager Panjaitan is one of a group of former generals who make little effort to hide their antipathy towards their former colleague Prabowo, the other presidential hopeful.
"(Jokowi's) a tough guy. He's more persistent than Prabowo," Panjaitan
said, briefly mimicking the ex-general's portly physique.
If elected, the furniture businessman-turned-politician would be
Indonesia's first president not to have come from an elite or military
background. By contrast, Prabowo comes from a prominent Indonesian
family, has studied and worked overseas and his brother is one of the
country's richest men.
If he wins, Jokowi would
also be the first elected president in Indonesia's nearly 70 years of
independence to have to rely entirely on other people's political
parties for his power base.
Megawati's party
teamed up with three other parties to muster the necessary numbers to be
allowed to nominate a presidential candidate.
But there has been no talk of deals on cabinet posts and other top
appointments before the election. Jokowi camp sources say they realise
they will have to accommodate allied parties but will only take into the
cabinet individuals who are qualified by skills and not by political
affiliation.
Few believe Jokowi will be able to
pull off a truly technocratic cabinet free of the politically-motivated
appointments that are widely seen to have tarnished the outgoing
coalition government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"Jokowi keeps saying this time has to be different from the past,
different from the previous government," said the aide to Megawati.
"(He) wants to put the right people in the right place. I think whether
they come from different parties, that's part of the plot and he needs
to consider that. But most importantly the people who are chosen should
be capable of doing the job."
Jokowi's
vice-presidential running mate is well respected—Jufuf Kalla, a
prominent businessman from the resource-rich eastern island of Sulawesi.
Kalla won a reputation as a reformer when he held the vice presidency
during Yudhoyono's first term from 2004 to 2009. He has since remained
in the public eye as head of the Indonesian Red Cross, a humanitarian
organisation.
"There will have to be political appointments," said Paul Rowland, a Jakarta-based analyst.
"Jokowi's track record shows that he doesn't play into ... deal-making.
The thing is he's never had to have political appointments in his team
before, but so far at least he's been firm on not making any deals.
We'll have to see if that holds if he is elected." —Reuters
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