[Nasional-e] Megawati hasn't helped her countrywomen

[Ambon]

 Megawati hasn't helped her countrywomen
 Julia Suryakusuma IHT  Saturday, January 18, 2003

Indonesia

JAKARTA Just as women in Britain didn't fare better under Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher than under her male predecessors, so Indonesian women have
made few advances since its first female president, Megawati Sukarnoputri,
came to power.
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Rather than breakthroughs, there have been setbacks for women under the
current administration. Megawati has not taken up any of the big issues that
women face, such as female trafficking, the plight of women migrant workers,
violence against women and women's participation in politics.
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The Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice and Democracy characterized
2002 as a year of defeat for women. Nursyahbani Katjasungkana,
secretary-general of the coalition, said women needed to empower themselves
to advance their interests. Yet the political organization of Indonesian
women is rudimentary.
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The biggest defeat for the coalition was the rejection by Megawati and
Parliament of the coalition's proposal that 30 percent of MPs should be
female. Katjasungkana had argued that increasing the number of women in the
legislature would be a powerful lever enabling women to contribute to policy
debate and change. Under the current electoral system, women occupy just 8
percent of the seats in Parliament. As a result, they lack influence in
policy-making.
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Megawati is not wholly to blame, of course - a complex mix of factors has
contributed to this lack of progress. The political culture in Indonesia, as
in many other countries, is male-dominated. And Indonesia has more Muslims
than any other country. Religion and tradition are imbued with patriarchal
values. They combine to ensure that women are still seen as inferior to men
and are excluded, wherever possible, from the sphere of political
decision-making.
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Megawati herself has been the target of sexist attacks by her opponents. Her
detractors from the Islamic political camp have actively invoked religious
"tenets" in seeking to delegitimize her position as leader of the nation.
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Yet the sexism targeted against Megawati has not had the effect of raising
her feminist consciousness. If anything, it seems to have pressured her even
more into behaving like "one of the boys" in order to survive in the current
political climate.
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Megawati's government has been indecisive about granting appropriate legal
protection for women. Family planning has taken noticeable steps backward in
recent years.
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Megawati herself has made public statements against affirmative action and
quotas for women. Like many of her opponents, she considers quotas to be
special treatment for women, when democracy should be conducted on the basis
of equal treatment.
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Such an attitude is odd in a woman who would not have secured the presidency
had she not been the daughter of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president.
Though Sukarno was controversial, his memory draws a considerable popular
following to Megawati.
.
Ironically, Megawati's two immediate predecessors, both male, made
breakthroughs for women during their terms.
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President B.J. Habibie issued a presidential decree setting up the National
Commission on Violence against Women, in response to the rapes, primarily of
Chinese women, that took place during the violence of May 1998 that forced
President Suharto to resign. The decree had the effect of bringing the issue
of violence against women to the fore.
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Habibie's successor, President Abdurrachman Wahid, redefined the Women's
Ministry, naming it the Ministry for the Empowerment of Women. This brought
it more in line with the aspirations of the women's movement in Indonesia.
Wahid appointed a competent and respected confidante, Khofifah Parawangsa,
as the minister to head the department. While Wahid and Khofifah talked
directly to women's groups, Megawati does not.
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When Megawati came to power, she assigned Sri Rejeki, previously the head of
the women's department of Golkar, the governing party in the Suharto era, to
be the new women's minister. Sri Rejeki was unknown to the women's movement
and had no track record on gender issues. Her appointment had more to do
with paying back Golkar for its support of Megawati's accession to the
presidency than with any concern for advancing a women's agenda.
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In a feudalistic political culture such as Indonesia's, the main point of
reference is the person at the top. Megawati's failure to advance women's
interests has only served to highlight the inferior position and role of
women in Indonesia.
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The writer is a free-lance social and political commentator based in
Jakarta.