Don't dismiss chances of Megawati comeback

[moe.ron]

Asia Letter: Don't dismiss chances of Megawati comeback
Jane Perlez IHT
Wednesday, July 28, 2004

JAKARTA The idea that Megawati Sukarnoputri, the president of Indonesia, could win a second term was considered risible by many who follow Indonesia's politics.

But Megawati, who enjoys the role of head of state more than the job of governing, confounded even some of her own supporters by placing second in the first round of the presidential elections.

In a September runoff, she will face her former minister for national security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former general who quit her cabinet after tiring of playing second fiddle.

The favorite remains Yudhoyono. He built popularity in short order by projecting an image of less tolerance for Indonesia's pervasive corruption, and not being attached to any of the big political parties.

According to official results released on Monday, Yudhoyono finished with about 34 percent of the vote, and Megawati with 27 percent.

A second term for Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, a lineage she is not shy to stress, cannot be ruled out.

Wimar Witoelar, an astute observer of his country and a participant in its reform politics in the post-Suharto age, argues an illuminating case for Megawati.

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