LAKSAMANA Sukardi, 48, is truly what his name means—commander—at the Mega Center, Megawati Sukarnoputri's think tank in the run-up towards the presidential elections. Laks, as he is familiarly known, is in the midst of revving up efforts to revive Mega's declining image. "We must communicate the successes of Megawati's government," said Laksamana.

Improving Mega's image will certainly be a lot of hard work, because that woul