Indonesia's New Leader: Can Megawati Guide the Country Through Its Serious Economic and Civil Challenges?

In late July, Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesian's first President, Sukarno, was sworn in as President of Indonesia after the impeachment of President Abdurrahman Wahid. Megawati was promoted from Vice President and has risen to the seat of power of a country in chaos. A professed advocate for non-violence, but also a devoted nationalist with close ties to the military, Megawati has been described as "conventional in process but radical in thinking" (Jakarta Post, 8/11/01).

Former President Wahid, though initially trusted as a savior for Indonesia, was impeached on July 23rd, 2001 after serving only 21-months of the usual five-year term. Suffering from what many presume to be the tolls of old age, he proved unable to lead Indonesia out of its troubles.

Indonesia's history since independence has been marked by corruption and myriad human rights abuses and lacks a legitimate system for holding accountable both past and current perpetrators. Continued violence consumes resource rich provinces of Aceh and West Papua in their struggles for self-determination. Much-needed IMF loans remain inaccessible until the country's economy stabilizes. In the desperate economy, malnutrition is also abundant and some of the country's most vulnerable people have been pushed into human trafficking in search of income. It is reported that children are trafficked in 40 cities across the country and that over 4,500 sex workers in neighboring Malaysia are in fact children from Indonesia (Jakarta Post, 6/6/01). Megawati is stepping in at a volatile and pivotal moment.

Megawati's Cabinet

On August 9th, Megawati appointed the members of her cabinet, with the exception of Attorney General. The new cabinet is credited with being a solid team whose members are well experienced and hold allegiance to various parties, with the overall composition showing no particular bias to Megawati's own Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Analysts note, however, that political strains between the executive branch and the divided Parliament are inevitable, since 2/3 of parliamentary members have voted allegiance to parties other than Megawati's and have the power to stall legislation at any time (Far Eastern Economic Review, 8/2/01).

Nearly a week after the rest of the cabinet was named, Megawati appointed Muhammad Abdurrachman to be Attorney General. As a member of the staff in the Attorney General's office for 35 years, Abdurrachman's enduring experience makes him most qualified for the difficult task of restructuring Indonesia's corrupt judicial system. However, this same credential also makes Abdurrachman least appropriate for the post due to judicial corruption that ensued during his time in office. Anti-corruption groups as well as international agencies, including the United Nations and Amnesty International, emphasize the need for an outsider as Attorney General in order to overhaul the department. The business and military community are both expected to pressure the new AG to drop human rights investigations of former top officials begun under former President Wahid. The cabinet already faces challenges that many critics believe are unbeatable even by the most effective world teams.

Starting Point for Megawati

Indonesia is an archipelago of 13,000 islands inhabited by more than 200 million people. It is the fourth most populous nation in the world, the world's largest Muslim nation, and the largest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

After winning its independence from the Dutch in 1949, Indonesia has survived several successive leaders of varying character and caliber. Sukarno was the first president of the new nation, followed by Suharto, who took control through the bloody coup d'état of 1965. Suharto was forced to resign in 1998 and was replaced by his deputy, Habibie.

In June 1999, Indonesia held its first free and fair election, which gave hope that Indonesia would emerge from the morass of corruption that it had suffered during three decades of Suharto's autocratic rule, as well as the economic ills of the 1997 Asian economic crisis. Nearly two years following the election of President Wahid to power, the country has still not been able to overcome corruption and provide successful bureaucratic reform.

Now Megawati has been given the chance to guide Indonesia through an essential renaissance. In late August, Indonesia signed a new set of promises for economic reform to broker a relationship with the IMF once again. With Megawati's diplomatic efforts for Indonesia's international relationships, there is an expected resumption of a $5 billion loan. The IMF package had been suspended in 2000 due to frustration with broken promises by former President Wahid.

On September 19th, 2001, President Megawati met with President Bush, the United States-Indonesia Society, and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council to outline her government's plans for resolving Indonesia's multiple and complex problems. She briefly stated her condemnation of the recent terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11th and expressed her willingness for cooperation with the US and other civilized nations on counter-terrorism. She focused her speech, however, on the weaknesses and urgent challenges for her country and on U.S. relations.

Some major responsibilities she mentioned include separatism in Aceh and West Papua, and social conflict in the Moluccas, Kalimantan and Sulawesi, which Megawati claims are being handled "in a peaceful manner, through a responsible political process without sacrificing the national integrity of Indonesia" (Megawati Address, 9/19/01).

She emphasized decentralizing some central government powers to regional governments, balancing the role of the military, balancing the relationship between the executive and legislative branches, eliminating collusion, corruption, and nepotism (known as KKN) through transparency and enhancing the judiciary system by continuing to uphold the supremacy of law. She stated, however, that the most challenging problem Indonesia faces is financial recovery.

Aceh and West Papua

Aceh, which is located 1,100 miles northwest of Jakarta, and West Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya ), which is approximately 1,500 miles northeast of Jakarta, are both immersed in similar struggles for self-determination. Both regions are resource rich provinces and have therefore become areas of extreme interest to multinational corporations seeking great profits.. In Aceh and West Papua, multinational corporations have been accused of human rights abuses in gaining land right usage and as employers of intense physical labor. Jakarta has continued to deploy troops in both areas to ensure stability, but even the Indonesian military is guilty of human rights abuses in their repression of local revolts against economic activities and political movements for independence. Only a few human rights cases have come to trial.

Political tension in Aceh, fueled by the local citizens' demand for independence, has been expressed through the present violence between the Indonesian military and local militia groups. The tense military situation is often caused or exacerbated by the presence of multinational companies. Less than five percent of the profits derived from Aceh's oil and gas wealth, which has been massively extracted by a joint operation between Mobil Oil Indonesia (MOI) and Pertamina for the past 30 years, has been returned to the people of Aceh. This escalates harsh economic conditions in the territory and further encourages the Acehnese people, under the leadership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), to demand independence.

From 1989 to 1998, a Military Operation Area (DOM) was implemented in the territory and was responsible for the extrajudicial executions of thousands of Acehnese. Evidence also shows that MOI contributed to the military operation. Most recently, under the Alien Tort Claims Act, eleven Acehnese plaintiffs have filed a case against Exxon-Mobil in the U.S. courts for its role in crimes against humanity. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Aceh this year

Leaders in West Papua first declared independence from the Dutch on December 1, 1961. However, Indonesia took control in 1963 as a result of finalized negotiations between the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia, known as the New York Agreement of 1962. Through a controversial United Nations-approved process in 1969 that legitimized Indonesia's claim, the UN and the government in Jakarta administered the "Act of Free Choice," which states that the West Papuan people wished to integrate with Indonesia. Recent investigations, however, reveal that this resolution was result of coercion and corruption.

During Suharto's authoritarian regime, West Papua remained under martial law and all cultural expression was strictly controlled, including political discourse that was punishable by death or imprisonment. The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has since waged a low-level guerilla war against governance by Indonesia. In June 2000, Members of the Second Papua Congress reaffirmed that West Papua had never been officially part of Indonesia and demanded that the United Nations revoke the Act of Free Choice executed in 1969. One reason independence was not granted is due to high revenues from large gold and copper deposits in Grasberg. The U.S.-operated mine on the island, Freeport McMoran, is currently under surveillance for environmental concerns of waste storage and worker health and safety violations. Currently in West Papua, there were 95 reported killings from July 1998 to May 2001, as well as 623 cases of arbitrary security force arrests and torture, some of which resulted in death.

On August 17th, the day before Indonesia's Independence Day, Megawati made a public apology to the people of Aceh and West Papua for the decades of government sanctioned ill treatment they have endured. The people in both regions feel, however, that these statements are not sufficient. Aceh remains occupied by the TNI and autonomy has been denied to the province. Furthermore, regional citizens in both Aceh and West Papua express the pain of their lost community members and emphasize that their assassins have not yet been held accountable. Concrete actions, which are long overdue, will be necessary to ease the great distrust both communities have for the government of Indonesia in Jakarta.

Proposed U.S. Assistance

On September 19, President George W. Bush and President Megawati Sukarnoputri began a new series of bilateral cooperation promoting democratic values, regional stability and prosperity. President Bush showed his commitment to ensuring a stable future for Indonesia by securing his Administration's request for at least $130 million in bilateral assistance for Indonesia in FY2002. An additional $12 million was pledged to assist internally displaced persons in East Timor and other conflict areas, $5 million to support reconciliation in Aceh and assist with economic development projects, and $10 million to strengthen Indonesia's law enforcement capabilities through police training. All economic aid is still subject to Congressional approval and depends upon economic reform and restructuring in Indonesia.

The United States has expressed a desire to expand trade bilaterally, regionally and globally. President Megawati is determined to improve the investment climate in her country and promote the potential of the Indonesian economy. Therefore, President Bush developed a joint trade and finance initiative of $400 million for three U.S. trade finance agencies, including the Export Import Bank (ExIm), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA), to help promote economic development in Indonesia. However, a large portion of trade and investment has been focused on the oil and gas sector, which may perpetuate the unjust conflicts highlighted above involving transnational corporations in those respective areas.
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The two presidents also agreed upon peaceful resolutions for the separatist pressures in Aceh and West Papua. President Bush reiterated firm support for Indonesia's territorial integrity and emphasized that "…the U.S. does not support secessionist aspirations in these areas or elsewhere" (Joint Statement, 9/19/01). President Megawati plans to implement her multidimensional strategy, supported by the US, of special autonomy, resource sharing, respect for cultural identity and human rights, restoration of peace, order and the rule of law, and continued efforts at dialogue and reconciliation. In order to support Megawati's efforts to balance the role of the military and increase its accountability to civil society, President Bush agreed to "…expand modest contacts and resume regular meetings between both militaries" (Joint Statement, 9/19/01). Although Bush states that most activities will be limited to conferences, investigations, transparency, humanitarian assistance and joint relief operations, he also proposed resuming education of Indonesian civilians on defense matters through Expanded International Military Education and Training (E-IMET) programs headed by the Pentagon. Furthermore, President Bush also confirmed his aspiration to resume commercial sales of non-lethal defense articles to Indonesia by lifting the United States embargo.

However, both international and domestic human rights groups, as well as vigilant members of Congress, are arguing strongly for the U.S. Government to maintain its suspension of military aid to Indonesia. Following East Timor's vote for Independence in late August 1999 and the consequential violence that ensued, Senator Leahy and others sponsored legislation that required the U.S. to refrain from selling arms to Indonesia until its forces cooperate with the prosecution of military personnel accused of abuses in East Timor. The Leahy amendment was expanded in FY2001 foreign operations bill to make available funds to Indonesia for E-IMET programs and resume U.S. government-funded arms sales through the Foreign Military Financing Program (FMS) under the condition that Indonesia has met the requirements of the original amendment. Currently, however, military assistance, even in the form of peacekeeping and disaster relief training, would break the restrictions set by the U.S. Congress. In June, Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs, James Kelly, stated that the government of Indonesia "has not met the requirements of the Leahy amendment in pursuing accountability for human rights abuses by the TNI (Indonesia military) in East Timor or elsewhere" (HR Testimony 6/01).

Recommendations

As Megawati leads Indonesia through this trying transition, the U.S. should provide support not in the form of military assistance, but rather in the following ways:

Aid Indonesia in its struggle towards sustainable economic stability by supporting grassroots, microeconomic growth and international business development, but only when requested by the local communities for the local communities;

Further encourage democratization of Indonesia by supporting freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and civil liberties that allow for peaceful social progress within the nation for the betterment of the whole society as expressed by its citizens;

Lead the international community in enforcing international law and urging Indonesia to proceed with the full establishment of legitimate systems of accountability; this should include further military reform and increased professionalism of all troops responsible for monitoring tense situations due to ethnicity, self-determination, nationalism, race, religion, or economic operations in all parts of the archipelago;

Encourage non-violent resolution by supporting the removal of the military from Aceh and West Papua, ending impunity by prosecuting any actor (both public and private) guilty of ills against humanity, and strengthening diplomatic dialogue in both regions;

Enforce corporate ethics that uphold social and humanitarian values above potential economic gains; assist Indonesia in its transition to a culture sensitive to human rights by providing support to refugee resettlement agencies working with East Timorese refugees in West Timor, as well as with the various other displaced groups in the country.

Assist Indonesia in its transition to a culture sensitive to human rights by providing support to refugee resettlement agencies working with East Timorese refugees in West Timor, as well as with the various other displaced groups in the country.

General Assembly

The 206th General Assembly (1994) calls for:
Increasing the development of and reliance on nonmilitary methods of conflict resolution;… [T]o achieve this understanding of common security, the General Assembly calls for demilitarization of the region by:

• Ending all United States economic and military assistance to military or authoritarian governments that systematically violate the rights of their own people or threaten or raid adjacent lands, except such humanitarian aid that can be properly administered by the United Nations or other international humanitarian agencies; and
• Curtailing and ending the arms trade, adhering to the UN transparency agreements, and supporting an international tax on arms sales as disincentive for promoting sales to correct trade imbalances, ending "co-production" and licensing agreements of military systems and hardware that permit the offshore manufacturing and unregulated sale of instruments of violence.

The General Assembly has advocated the development of standards for human rights, inclusive of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. These are to be reinforced by international instruments designed to implement and assure rights for all persons, respecting the dignity of all peoples regardless of race, creed, national or ethnic origin, sex, or economic standing. To this end, the General Assembly calls for:

• Ratification of existing human rights treaties by the United States and by other countries, specifically those of the Asia-Pacific region, and conscientious efforts to adhere to them domestically and internationally. (Minutes, July/August 1994)