Wahid cedes some powers to Megawati

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, AUG. 25. As part of a new power-sharing exercise, the Indonesian President, Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, has formally delegated to the Vice-President, Ms. Megawati Sukarnoputri, the tasks of formulating the Cabinet's agenda and priorities of the Government.

In a decree, Mr. Wahid said the new arrangement, which is to last till the end of his term in 2004, was required to improve the efficiency of Government. As per the new order, Ms. Megawati, whose party has the largest representation in Parliament, will chair Cabinet meetings and evaluate the performance of Cabinet Ministers. Following severe criticism of the President's style of functioning, a new Cabinet, with two senior co-ordinating Ministers working under the Vice-President but under the overall supervision of Mr. Wahid, had been put in place some time ago.

In the meantime, the Vice-President has categorically denied rumours that she is planning to resign in the wake of the President's decision to appoint a new Cabinet, where representation for her party is negligible. ``I still have my office here and all of us know that the Cabinet has been announced by the President, and the induction ceremony will take place on Saturday,'' Ms. Megawati was quoted as telling reporters. Calling upon the press not to blow things out of proportion, she said: ``One thing I really want is for the situation and condition to remain stable, no matter what. I also hope the press will help.''

The new decree issued by the President will allow the Vice- President to issue orders on Government policies - but only after the green signal has been given by Mr. Wahid. The Vice- President, the decree said, could also sign decisions on the promotion, removal or retirement of civil servants, military and police personnel, which currently can only be done under Presidential authority. It also stated that the Vice-President shall report on the implementation of tasks to the President ``regularly or at any time if necessary''.

In a related development which should help end speculation of growing differences between the President and the Vice-President, Mr. Wahid called on his deputy yesterday. Though details of the two-hour-long meeting between the two leaders was not immediately available, the President made the trip to the Vice-President's residence last evening.

According to a report in Jakarta Post, Mr. Wahid wanted to personally hand over to Ms. Megawati the Presidential decree outlining the power-sharing arrangement. Also, it is now expected that Ms. Megawati will swear in the new Cabinet tomorrow, similar to the previous team announced by Mr. Wahid. Another power player in Indonesian politics, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker, Mr. Amien Rais, also met Ms. Megawati yesterday. Mr. Amien Rais said after the meeting that the Vice-President got to know about the composition of the new Cabinet just one hour before the formal announcement was made in the presence of Mr. Wahid.

The latest meeting between the President and the Vice- President notwithstanding, Ms. Megawati is reportedly not happy with the new team that Mr. Wahid has given her. The choice of the new Finance Minister, who was apparently rejected by the Indonesian State bank to head another banking institution, has come under considerable fire. Also, the reduced representation of Ms. Megawati's party in the Cabinet can create real problems in the future. One of the reasons for the Cabinet reshuffle was the fact that Ministers were pulling in different directions and could not work as a team.

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