Strongest Woman in the World

Megawati has remained an influential political leader in Indonesia since 1999. Although she is no longer the president in Indonesia, Megawati continues to have a major political role because she leads the PDIP.

I remember Hidayat Nur Wahid, then-speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), presenting his paper during the International Conference on Democracy in Istanbul, Turkey, back in 2004.

Thanks to the 1998 Reform Movement, followed by the peaceful elections in 1999 and 2004, Indonesia was repeatedly lauded as an example of a democracy in several speeches. The compliments reaffirmed why Indonesia, represented by the MPR speaker, had been invited to the forum. I immediately put my earphones on when the moderator called, “Mr Hidayat will speak in Arabic.”

During his presentation, Hidayat Nur Wahid talked about how reform and democracy swept through Indonesia. And he pointed out the fact that a woman had become president of Muslim-dominated Indonesia as a testimony to the quality of democracy in the country. He was referring to Megawati Soekarnoputri (born 1947).

Given the current political hype leading up to the 2024 general elections, my thoughts revisited and lingered on this female political figure for a few months, intrigued. Why? Because I was curious what Megawati thought about the idea of postponing the elections, which became a concern for all-male political party leaders in this country regarding their prospective presidential candidates. As it turns out, Megawati rejected the postponement idea. Having previously hesitated to express their disapproval, those party leaders have now thrown their support behind Megawati. Some may disagree with Megawati, but we must admit this female political figure has emerged a "savior" in the democratic rite in Indonesia.

Quick comparison

Looking back on her career in politics, I cannot help comparing Megawati to other world leaders. At first glance, this idea seems an exaggeration because of the phrase “comparing Megawati to world leaders”.

How is it possible that an ordinary Indonesian politician such as Megawati deserves the privilege of being compared to the world's great leaders? One might be provoked into poking fun at me: “You are putting yourself in the wrong dream.” To that satire, I would concede. I might be over embellishing; the effort was not worth the comparison.

In general, it must be acknowledged that Indonesia, in which Megawati articulates her political leadership, has not yet become a perfect model of a democratic system.

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Not only is the country still in its infancy in embracing democracy, but the way in which the elites are treating democracy cannot be said to be constructive. Another “flaw” is that this country is still allowing democracy, which has been the most valuable reward for the people’s struggle against the long-ruling New Order (1967-1998), to be “bought” by the oligarchs.

However, given the fact that the world of politics at the global level has long been dominated by men, it makes sense to take into account the old assumptions. Do we not realize that since the 18th century’s Industrial Revolution, during which industrialization and democratic principles began to go hand-in-hand, the world has been witnessing hugely gaping disparities in the composition of women's and men's political leadership?

EDNA CAROLINE PATTISINA

PDI-P General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri opened the training for female cadres, Friday (10/6/2022), at Lenteng Agung, Jakarta.

Indeed, since 50 years ago, the world has seen the emergence of female political leaders with their demonstrated knacks for leadership in respective countries. During that time, Indira P. Gandhi (1917-1984) was the first to take steps onto the stage of India's political leadership from the 1960s to the mid-1980s.

Then, along with Khaleda Zia (born in 1945) in Bangladesh, Srimavo Bandaranaike (1916-2000) in Sri Lanka, Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) in Pakistan and Aung San Suu Kyi (born in 1945) in Myanmar, Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom came into global spotlight (1925-2013). And, the German people have just bidden farewell to Angela Merkel (born in 1954), who led her people from 2005.

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Each of these great women have made a valuable contribution to their countries and nations. Of course, because they came from the West, Thatcher and Merkel received more world attention. However, all those female leaders have generally contributed constructive things according to the uniqueness of their respective countries.

However, it must be admitted that the time span of women's political leadership turned out to be very limited. As we see, all these female leaders have been replaced by men today. The emergence of women's political leadership has thus seemed to be a "deviation", or just a "distraction" from the continuum of male domination in the world of politics.

“Political Fasting”

For the reasons presented below, this has not weighed on Megawati since she took the leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI-P) as the New Order era was ushering to an end. Of course, that Megawati is Sukarno's daughter is a factor that cannot be ruled out.

In addition to being well known, Sukarno is one of the great heroes of Indonesia. Not only did he, together with Mohammad Hatta, become one of the proclaimers of Indonesian independence on 17 Aug., 1945, he was also the founder of a national party in the pre-independence period and, more importantly, the first president of the Republic of Indonesia. In view of all these combined factors, Sukarno undoubtedly was a charismatic figure with enormous political influence.

Being Sukarno's biological daughter, Megawati has understandably obtained valuable political resources that help her in the participation to compete for power in Indonesia. Tens of millions of Indonesians who admire Sukarno are willing to support her voluntarily. In short, without having to go extra miles, she has received a large number of political supporters inherited by Sukarno.

While this fact is undeniable, Megawati, as we see, had gone through ups and downs before attaining her current position. When Sukarno's power collapsed in 1967, his political role was practically shunned by the public. His followers, and particularly the family, also endured political isolation.

Enduring political oppression, Megawati was hardly given room for political maneuvering. Well aware of the potential threats over political power posed by Sukarno's staunch supporters, the New Order regime

simply did not allow the slightest chance for the return of the Old Order. Thus, the New Order's strict political and even military control was ubiquitous. All of this forced Megawati to undergo -- in order to make it sound a little dramatic -- "political fasting". And, because the New Order's rule lasted for more than 30 years, you can imagine how long it was that she performed "political fasting".

Female leader of Muslim society

Such conditions, therefore, make a distinction between Megawati and the other aforementioned female political leaders, except for the political destiny of Aung San Suu Kyi. It must be acknowledged that Megawati has her own flaws in leadership and personal character. Those apart, one thing that is clear and worth reckoning is her extraordinary resilience against political pressures over 30 years of the New Order’s regime.

Unlike the other female figures mentioned above, Megawati has remained a strong and influential political leader in the country since 1999. Although she is no longer vice president (1999-2001) or president (2001-2004), she continues to hold a major political role with her seemingly irreplaceable top position in PDI-P that she has built into the largest political organization in Indonesia and still maintains today.

Does all this not show that Megawati has emerged the strongest woman in the world, with all other female leaders in the world no longer being in power?

Regarding the phenomenon of her political achievements, it is necessary to add a few notes. Megawati's strong and irreplaceable leadership is taking place in a country with Muslim majority populations. This fact proves both the parallels between Islam and democracy as well as the display of a female political leadership prowess.

Such compatibility between Islam and democracy, in addition to Megawati's leadership skills, have combined to help prevent the idea of postponing the general election, campaigned by male political leaders, from materializing.

So, just to make the phenomenon look more "dramatic", especially when it comes to comparing her with the other global female leading figures, we can assert, no matter how exaggerated it might seem: "Does all this not show that Megawati has emerged the strongest woman in the world, with all other female leaders in the world no longer being in power?”

KOMPAS/JOHNNY TG

Fachry Ali

Fachry Ali, Co-Founder of the Institute for the Study and Development of Business Ethics (LSPEU Indonesia)

This article was translated by Musthofid.