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Megawati unites with almost blind President! |
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August 27, 2000
JAKARTA (AP) - In a sign of restored unity, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri Saturday swore-in a new 26-member Cabinet, which President Abdurrahman Wahid hopes will lift his sagging political fortunes. Megawati officiated at the installation ceremony at Jakarta's ornate state palace at the request of the head of state, who also attended but was unable to read the oath of office because he is almost blind. Her participation was symbolically significant after days of feuding over the composition of the ministerial lineup. It was also her first official duty since Wahid bowed to pressure and beefed up her role in policy-making and day-to-day Cabinet affairs. A presidential decree defining her new responsibilities was read out at Saturday's ceremony, which was nationally televised. Neither Wahid nor Megawati talked about their differences. Recently, however, Wahid stressed he will remain in ultimate control of the government, saying Megawati has been given new tasks, not new powers. Members of the streamlined Cabinet promised to push forward with reforms after three decades of authoritarian rule under ex-President Suharto, who is slated to face trial for corruption on Thursday. New Economics Coordinating Minister Rizal Ramli said he had spoken by telephone to Stanley Fischer, deputy head of the International Monetary Fund, which is overseeing the restructuring of Indonesia's crisis-ridden economy. "The response from the IMF to the new Cabinet is very positive," said Ramli, who has previously criticized IMF policies toward Indonesia. After the ceremony, the newly installed economic team met with Wahid and Megawati at the palace. The president asked the ministers to focus on economic recovery, said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, coordinating minister for defense and political affairs. "The president said this is the most significant task (and) the Cabinet has to accomplish it as fast as possible," Yudhoyono said. New Defense Minister Mahfud M.D. said he would continue with democratic reforms within the military.
Until now, Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's founding President Sukarno and a popular pro-democracy figure in her own right, has been sidelined from the inner workings of the government even though she heads the largest party in the national parliament. Relations between Wahid and Megawati have been strained in recent months as their fractious 10-month-old coalition government failed to fix a deep economic crisis or to end bloody sectarian and separatist violence in several troubled provinces. Their differences came to a head on Wednesday when she boycotted Wahid's announcement of the new lineup. Later her aides publicly criticized Wahid for stacking the new Cabinet with his own supporters while excluding senior Megawati backers from key positions. Wahid has said the new ministerial team would be more professional than the former unwieldy 35-member Cabinet he appointed last October when he became Indonesia's first democratic leader in four decades. The 60-year-old president, who has also been weakened by a series of strokes, promised to reshuffle his administration and enhance Megawati's role after Indonesia's top assembly earlier this month threatened to impeach him. |
