Biography Megawati Sukarnoputri

Megawati Sukarnoputri (pronounced meg-ah-WAH-tee soo-kar-no-POO-tree) was born in 1947,

the second of five children of Sukarno, the founder and president of independent Indonesia, and
his first wife, Fatmawati. (He had three other children by three more wives.) "Sukarnoputri,"
literally translated, means "daughter of Sukarno," but many Indonesians, including her, use only
their first name. Sukarno led the drive to secure independence from the Netherlands and became
Indonesia's first president under home rule in 1949. As such, Megawati grew up in the posh
Merdeka Palace until her father's downfall. As the nation is composed of more than 13,000
islands, maintaining centralized control was difficult, so Sukarno imposed martial law. Famines,
runaway inflation, and near-economic collapse marred his leadership. Following a coup attempt
in 1965, Sukarno became even more unpopular, and the stage was set for his rival, General
Suharto, to take power in 1967. Sukarno remained a heroic figure for his historical contributions,
however, and there are still many signs of respect for him in the country.
Despite his political prominence, Sukarno left little wealth when he died in 1970. Megawati lived
modestly throughout her life, adding to her image as a champion of the poor. Although she
attended Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia, studying agriculture and psychology, she
left without graduating after the coup attempt; a friend told Mark McDonald of the Knight-
Ridder Tribune News Service, "No children of Sukarno were allowed to go to university. They
had no money, no education, no jobs. The family was so poor then." Megawati settled into a
middle-class lifestyle of marriage and children. She married an Indonesian Air Force pilot in the
late 1960s and had two sons; she was pregnant with their daughter when her husband's plane
crashed. She later married again, but was divorced quickly, and the relationship has remained a
mystery.
Megawati's third husband, Taufiq Kiemas, owns and operates several gas stations in Jakarta,
where they have a nice but not ostentatious home in a well-guarded area of the city. He ran for
parliament from southern Sumatra, and encouraged his wife to become involved in politics as
well. Though she and her siblings vowed not to seek office while Suharto was alive, Megawati's
oldest brother, Guntur, a photographer, and younger brother, Guruh, a choreographer, both held
seats in parliament briefly. Also, sisters Guruh and Rachmawati ran for parliament in 1999.
Nevertheless, Megawati's brother Guntur told McDonald, "We are not cut out for politics. It's
Mega who has staying power. She has guts."

Presidential Candidate
In June 1999, elections were held for the Indonesian legislators, and candidates for president
were in place. They included Megawati, Habibie, Rais, and Wahid. Megawati was undoubtedly
popular, yet widely criticized for her soft-spoken manner. Habibie tried to distance himself from
his predecessor, Suharto. Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party (PAN), was a charismatic
supporter of student protests. Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, was the driving force
behind the National Awakening Party (PKB) and a leader of the largest Muslim group in
Indonesia.
Despite Megawati's high profile, her bid for the presidency came under fire because of her
gender. In the largest Islamic nation in the world-90 percent of Indonesia's 200 million
inhabitants are Muslim-her opponents claimed that she should not be elected because of her
gender. Although Islamic law does not prohibit a woman from leading the country, and religion
is not seen as having nearly as much clout as politics in the nation, some were trying to stir
public sentiment against the concept. Although Megawati was a practicing Muslim, some were
suspicious of how much of an adherent she was, due to her wide support from non-Muslims.
Other issues included her three marriages and her lack of a formal degree.
In June elections, the PDI-P party garnered 153 of the 462 seats (out of a total of 700), a good
deal more than Golkar's 120 positions. Megawati thus seemed assured of the presidency.
However, an electoral college from the House of Representatives, selects the president, and
Megawati needed a coalition to ensure her seat. From June to October she seemed unwilling to
forge integral ties with rival parties. A former cabinet minister, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, told
Seth Mydans of the New York Times that if Megawati lost the election, "the country [would] be
thrown into total chaos-total civil chaos." By this time, she not only had the backing of the poor,
but also the elite classes, who saw her as being good for the business climate. And as Mydans
reported in another New York Times article, "Many people have made their voices heard in
continuing mass rallies and in outbursts of violence."
Hours before the assembly vote was scheduled in October 1999, the Golkar party humiliated
Habibie by replacing him as a presidential candidate with party chair, Akbar Tanjung, the speaker
of the parliament. This change did not make a difference, though. In a surprise shift in support,
the assembly voted in Wahid, the Muslim leader respected for his teachings on tolerance and
self-respect. The vote was 373 for Wahid, 313 for Megawati, and five abstentions. As predicted,
there were outbursts of violence, but not nearly as bad as expected. Megawati appeared on
television holding Wahid's hand, and she commented, according to Mydans, "For the unity of the
nation I call on the people of Indonesia to accept the results of the election."
Though some supporters wept and others rioted after Megawati's defeat, the next day, parliament
voted her in to the post of vice president. This was an important gesture and helped bring
stability to the troubled nation. With Megawati as vice president, Mydans indicated that her party
might be more willing to work with Wahid. He also noted, "Their cooperation may be enhanced
by the fact that the President is in poor health and, should he die, Ms. Megawati may yet have the
chance to take over the presidency before his five-year term is up."