Forbes :Most Powerful Women In The World no.8 > Megawati Sukarnoputri Have More Influence Than SBY

Megawati Sukarnoputri
President, Indonesia
Age: 57
Country: Indonesia

The 57-year-old Megawati (known as "Mega") came into power in 2001 after the impeachment of former president Abdurrahman Wahid. But being president of the world's largest Islamic nation (in terms of population), one that is a hotbed of anti-Western vitriol, is no easy feat. Besides Islamic militancy, Indonesia faces a host of economic troubles and regional separatism. Megawati's re-election in this fall's runoff contest is no sure thing, but don't expect her to drop out of politics even if she loses.
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Megawati Criticizes Ministers’ Campaign Work

Candidate and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Thursday warned that the involvement of several ministers in the campaign teams of the two other candidates could affect their ability to meet their administrative responsibilities.

The ministers, she said, could also abuse their power in supporting their candidates.

“Success team members shouldn’t come from the cabinet because their ministerial duties would be affected,” the former president said at the opening of her campaign’s media center in South Jakarta.

The ministers’ work on the campaign teams could also create conflict within the government, as some support President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s bid and others Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

“There should be no divisions in the cabinet because all of them should be united and shouldn’t fly any party’s flag,” Megawati said. “A minister is owned by neither the president nor the vice president.”

Separately, legal expert Irman Putra Sidin warned the ministers against using their position to aid candidates in the July presidential poll.

Irman said that conflicts of interest might arise among the ministers who joined campaign teams, and he stressed that they should not use their authority to bend election rules.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that having ministers on campaign teams was acceptable as long as they took leave of their official duties at points during the campaign season.

“That is fine,” Andi said. “And there is a rule about it saying that the ministers can take time off when they join the campaign. On ordinary days, they work for the president during the daytime and undertake their political tasks in the evening.”

He said that there would not be a problem as long as the ministers were able to assist the president when called upon.

As the incumbent, Andi added, Yudhoyono had an interest in having the government run well during his entire term.

He also said he disagreed with the idea that Yudhoyono would benefit from being the incumbent in the race.

“As proof of that, we saw an incumbent presidential candidate lose in 2004. The important thing is the incumbent’s performance,” Andi said, adding that Yudhoyono only used state facilities while on state business and not for his political activities.

State Secretary Hatta Rajasa heads Yudhoyno’s success team, which includes Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Freddy Numberi, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and State Minister for Administrative Reform Taufiq Effendi. State Minister for the Acceleration of Development in Underdeveloped Regions Lukman Edy and State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Suryadharma Ali are also members.

Industry Minister Fahmi Idris heads Kalla’s team, which also includes State Minister for National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta and Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie.

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Megawati most popular among workers

Megawati most popular among workers
Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Fri, 01/23/2009 9:46 AM National
Former president Megawati Soekanorputri and the current Vice President Jusuf Kalla are the most preferable among workers compared to the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, according to a survey released Thursday.
It said Yudhoyono is seen by most workers as “unfriendly” to them as he failed to improve their welfare.
The survey, conducted last year by the Federation of United State Enterprise Worker Unions, shows that 30.7 percent of 5,123 respondents, from across the country’s 33 provinces, consider Megawati as the best figure who will be able to improve the conditions for Indonesian workers.

Coming second in the survey is Kalla with 19.6 percent of support, followed by Yudhoyono with 12.7 percent.Another presidential hopeful, Prabowo Subianto, a retired three-star Army general, is the fourth most popular with 7.7 percent of support, and Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubowono X ranked fifth with 6.5 percent.

When asked whether the respondents would vote for Yudhoyono in the July presidential election for a second term in office, 80.6 percent of them said “no” and only 17.2 percent said “yes”.

Federation chairman FX. Arief Poyuono, when announcing the findings, said most workers believed their economic condition under the Megawati administration was better than under the current Yudhoyono government.
“The workers use a simple way to measure the performance of the government. What they see is that the price of Indomie (instant noodles), rice and public transport have now more than doubled compared to when Megawati was president,” he said.

Confirming this statement, the survey found that 65.7 percent of the respondents considered their household economic condition under Yudhoyono’s administration to be worse than under Megawati.
About 80 percent said transportation, education and health are more costly, and 58.7 percent said Yudhoyono has failed in his term to fight poverty and unemployment.
Kalla, however, is dubbed friendlier than Yudhoyono because he responded better to labor issues.
“He has established better communication with labor unions, and is ready to directly call them when hearing about some problems. Perhaps because he is a businessman, he knows how to cope with labor’s problems better,” Arief said.
Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) also leads the survey, with 26.7 percent of the respondents seeing it as the best party to help improve their condition.
Kalla’s Golkar Party ranked second with 20.1 percent of the vote, followed by Prabowo’s Greater Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) with 10.9 percent, the Prosperous Justice Party with 9.7 percent, and the United Development Party with 7.3 percent.
Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party only came seventh with 6.3 percent of the vote.

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PDI Perjuangan, one of the biggest parties done they campaign on Gelora Bung Karno Senayan, at April 4th, 2009. With their General Chairman, Megawati Soekarno Putri, speech to their support to choice PDIP and her for the election 9 April 2009.

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