The Heart of the Matter

Two people close to Megawati are struggling over the state secretariat. A problem that Mega cannot afford to respond to with silence.

July 2, 2002

INDONESIAN politics is sometimes determined by personal whims, not by a system, nor a party. The current struggle for influence within the state secretariat provides one example. Taufiq Kiemas, the husband of President Megawati and the motor of the dominant Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Bambang Kesowo, state secretary/minister, both want to "assist" the president. That is why the two of them want to control an

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