Chapter 2 - Abdurrahman Wahid's Presidency: What Went Wrong?

Summary

Introduction

On 20 October 1999, the People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, MPR) — comprising the 500 members of the People's Representative Assembly (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) and 200 representatives from interest groups and regional factions — elected Abdurrahman Wahid (also known as Gus Dur), the leader of the National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa, PKB), as the fourth President of Indonesia and the first democratically elected. Contrary to what was predicted by many, he defeated Megawati Sukarnoputri, the leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party–Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia–Perjuangan, PDI-P). On 7 June 1999, the PKB gained the third highest number of votes (12.6 per cent) in the DPR election, but it came in fourth in allocated seats with fifty-one members. Although the PDI-P emerged as the largest party with 153 seats and 33.7 per cent of the votes, it could not translate this into capturing the presidency of Indonesia. After several weeks of intense political bargaining, Wahid's victory was seen as the result of Megawati's mistakes. First, she allowed him to be progressively alienated. Then, Megawati's inflexibility was an obstacle to a power-sharing alliance with the PKB and Amien Rais' National Mandate Party (Partai Amanat Nasional, PAN). Finally, the vote against President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie's accountability speech by the PDI-P members in the MPR for all intents and purposes eliminated the candidate against whom she had a guaranteed victory. Megawati would say to an aide in tears that “I can't believe this has happened — my own brother stabbed me in the back”. Still, not everything was lost for her. Fearing a wave of violence across the country, many MPR members were willing to cast a vote for Megawati as a way to appease her supporters and maintain political stability. Initially, she refused to seek the nomination for Vice-President of Indonesia, but she later accepted and won with PKB's political support. Despite her initial feelings of sadness, disappointment, and humiliation, her advisors believed that she could assume, as Vice-President, a pivotal role in the near future. Less than two years later, the chain of events would show how correct they were.