LAKSAMANA Sukardi has spent more time lately at the residence of President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Jalan Teuku Umar in Central Jakarta—not in his capacity as State Minister for State-Owned Enterprises but as head of the Mega Center, an agency recently established by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to shore up the president's flagging popularity ahead of the presidential election on July 5.

PDI-P's dismal performance