Word: megawati
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Indonesia's political system adds a whole new meaning to the words "general election." On Friday, after around 20 percent of 113 million ballots had been counted in the country's first free elections in more than 40 years, opposition icon Megawati Sukarnoputri was projected to claim the biggest share of the vote ?- around 35 percent. But with the military-backed ruling party Golkar claiming a solid 20 percent and two smaller opposition parties each scoring close to that, the election may yet be up to the generals to adjudicate. The reason is that Indonesia?s president...
That would almost certainly reignite the street protests that overthrew former President Suharto last year and usher in a period of renewed turmoil. On the other hand, the generals could opt for making a deal with Megawati, allowing her to take power, but within parameters defined by the military. Megawati?s father, President Sukarno, was overthrown in a military coup in 1965, which ushered in Suharto?s 33-year tenure. "The situation right now is unpredictable because it?s unclear what the military wants," says TIME correspondent William Dowell. "There are likely to be divisions in the military, with some...
...never going to be easy, but the General Election Committee had promised to complete half the count by Tuesday -? and by Wednesday night it had tallied only 7 percent. Indonesia?s stock exchange hit a two-year record high on Tuesday, buoyed by the strong showing of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, but it resumed its slide Wednesday as everyone from opposition leaders, Western election monitors and even by the leader of the military-backed ruling party, President B. J. Habibie, expressed concern over the slow count...
...nominated by the present military-backed government. From the initial count, the ruling party is drawing 20 percent of the vote, which would bring it ?- under the stacked-deck electoral system ?- within a whisker of holding on to power. Add to that an opposition vote split between Megawati?s secular Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle and various Islamic parties, and the country?s next president still looks likely to be decided in a series of backroom deals. Then again, no military-backed deal is going to enjoy much legitimacy if the vote-counters don?t get a move...
President B. J. Habibie?s Golkar party ? the traditional representative of the military and the Suharto dictatorship ?- is expected to fare poorly at the polls, although the parliamentary system is stacked in its favor. The leading opposition contender ? way ahead in the small number of ballots counted ? is Megawati Sukarnoputri, the democracy-activist daughter of President Sukarno, who was overthrown by Suharto in 1965. Her secular Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle has a loose coalition agreement with the Islamic-oriented National Mandate and National Awakening parties. Even if the opposition coalition manages to secure enough seats to outvote Golkar...