Is Megawati going to have an easy time ruling Indonesia? She enjoys the support of the people, right?
That’s true, yes, but she’s going to find it difficult governing. As Vice President, Megawati has shown hardly any aptitude for or interest in solving the affairs of the state, and there are many right now. There are separatist uprisings festering away in Aceh and Irian Jaya, and most of the things she has been saying about the economy, sounds like a repeat of the nationalist rhetoric of her father back in the 1960s. I don’t think foreign investors are going to be rushing in to the country just because she is now in power, even though they are probably relieved that the transition up till now has gone very smoothly. I think Megawati also has a lot of rivals from the other political rivals who aren’t going to cut her much slack. How would you describe the new President? There are some people who say she doesn’t want to be President; she wants to be Queen. She is quite shy, doesn’t have a commandeering presence, but she does have a sense of herself as being born into office, which comes
