To Megawati and current president Habibie alike, Amien is a bridge to Indonesia’s Islamic world. The Chicago-trained political scientist earned himself a name as an Islamic firebrand in the 1980s by struggling against Suharto’s repression of Muslims’ political and cultural aspirations. He has gradually moderated his views: ignoring the opposition of more conservative Muslim supporters, Amien last year formed the National Mandate Party and opened it to Indonesians of all ethnic and religious backgrounds.
By midweek, Amien was already “springing back” from his embarrassing setback, Bara says. So far, he is playing hard to get. Amien knows well that his support could win over orthodox Muslims who are skeptical of Megawati’s secular, Javanese version of Islam. Amien could also help hold the country together: he has credibility in the regions clamoring for independence since he has expressed sympathy for their causes. Without Amien’s support, a Megawati-led government could have trouble soothing ethnic tensions between Muslim Indonesians and ethnic-Chinese Christians.
Desperate for a new alliance, Golkar is wooing Amien, too. That party’s chairman, Akbar Tanjung, asked Amien last week if he would join Golkar if the party dumped Habibie. The answer: no–“at this point,” says Bara. Amien, who rigorously supported anti-Suharto student protesters and played a crucial role in the strongman’s downfall, plans to “continue to act as a swing party,” says Bara. That should keep plenty of people knocking on his door.
If one man holds the key to the fate of B. J. Habibie, it might be Marzuki Darusman. An urbane lawyer and secular Muslim, Marzuki, 53, is leader of the reform faction of Golkar, the party of Habibie and ousted president Suharto. Indeed, even as Megawati pulls ahead in the election, Marzuki argues that Golkar, which is based on secularism and has organizational roots across the archipelago, should still be an important agent of change. From behind the scenes, Marzuki has led a growing movement within the party to distance itself from–and even dump–Habibie. Marzuki fought last April to deny the party’s presidential nomination to Habibie, whose candidacy, he correctly thought, would cost Golkar votes.
Marzuki could still be the one to quash Habibie’s chances in November’s presidential election. As he watched the results trickle in last week, Marzuki was huddling with fellow Golkar mavericks in Jakarta coffee shops and offices, hoping to save his party–without tearing the country apart. He bitterly opposes Habibie’s last-ditch efforts to put together an anti-Megawati coalition with several smaller Islamic-based parties. “Habibie’s people are giving out all the wrong signals,” Marzuki told NEWSWEEK. “This compromises Golkar’s and the country’s diversity, unity, and pushes the balance toward the right.” In Marzuki’s opinion, a Golkar alliance with the Islamic movement would alienate the country’s small but important non-Muslim vote–and exacerbate racial hatred between indigenous Indonesians and ethnic Chinese.
Marzuki, who served on a respected Suharto-era human-rights commission, played a key role in the dictator’s resignation. His next step could lead to another turning point for Indonesian politics. He suggests that the Golkar reformers either form a new opposition or consider joining forces with Megawati. Marzuki is close to reformers in the military, especially armed forces chief General Wiranto. Such a coalition–bolstered by the organizational muscle of the Golkar heavies–could be hard to beat.
