THE MEGAWATI MYSTIQUE

Ask commentators in Jakarta about Indonesia's leading opposition figure, and you'll hear a lot of derision. Diplomats, academics, journalists and businessmen dismiss her as weak, indecisive, lazy, lacking in vision, utterly dependent on her handlers - essentially incapable as a leader. The latest example cited of these qualities is her refusal to join the country's first presidential debate at the University of Indonesia on April 27. Her reason: "Debate does not follow Asian culture." That response now joins the many anecdotes recounted in the capital about how when history calls on her, she fails to answer.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY-IN-WAITING

Name: Megawati Sukarnoputri. Born: January 23, 1947, Jogjakarta, Central Java. Background: Studied agriculture; married to an oil businessman (her third marriage); three children and three dogs. Personality and interests: Mild-mannered and sincere; onetime florist who still enjoys flower arrangement; loves cartoons (claims to have seen Disney's Beauty and the Beast 50 times); learning Spanish. Political strengths: Daughter of populist founding president Sukarno; symbol of suffering under Suharto's New Order, with a track record as an opposition figure; down-home style and image that resonates throughout Java and among rural folk; stickler for the law and the Constitution; well-organized party. Political weaknesses: Poor sense of timing - no-show when students seized parliament last May and notoriously silent on shootings in Jakarta in November; seen as indecisive and overly reliant on aides; hardly a towering intellect; seems uncomfortable with wielding power; her gender - can Indonesia handle a woman president?

Yet there is a key to understanding her persistent appeal - why, despite the fact that she has consistently kept a low profile throughout the past year and has continually disappointed the urban elite, she and her party are undoubtedly one of the front-runners in the upcoming elections; why her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P by its Indonesian initials) has a lock on the country's most populous island, Java, which holds more than half the seats in the to-be-formed parliament. The key to the mystery of Megawati is this: What is perceived as weakness, indecision and silence in Jakarta is seen as strengths in the rest of Java. That explains the cynicism in the capital and at the same time the almost religious fervor of her supporters out there in the "real Indonesia."

In Javanese culture, modesty, humility and restraint are highly prized. Ask any Javanese and you'll hear: You are not supposed to appear arrogant and assume positions; you do not grasp at something you want, but wait for someone else to give it to you; you should not talk too much; you must always be self-effacing. Megawati's popularity is derived from the perception that she practices these virtues. Even though everyone considers her a presidential candidate, she doesn't trumpet the fact (hence her reluctance to join the debate). "There's a modesty she projects about herself," says Roger Paget, a U.S.-based political scientist and Indonesia expert. "She doesn't try to pretend that she's somebody with a Ph.D. That's something that resonates, feels familiar." Ordinary people would say about her: "Orang biasa ini" - this is an ordinary person.

At the same time, there is one thing that sets her apart from ordinary Indonesians: She is founding president Sukarno's daughter. For all his flaws, Sukarno remains an admired figure and there is little doubt that his popularity has rubbed off on Megawati. This does not mean she is merely cashing in on her father's name; she is in a real sense the upholder of the Sukarno legacy. She shares the political views and values of her father - so much so that some regard her as a living embodiment of Sukarno. "She has the soul of Sukarno inside her body," says a traditional-medicine dealer in Madiun, East Java. "I am sure Sukarno borrowed Megawati's body to express his commands."

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