President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono and bitter rival Megawati Soekarnoputri showed a small sign of reconciliation Tuesday, shaking hands during the commemoration of Pancasila, the country’s basic ideology.
Yudhoyono also honored Megawati by making her the first person he addressed when he began his speech in a ceremony at the People’s Consultative Assembly in Jakarta.
Earlier, Megawati’s presence was applauded by hundreds of Assembly members and guests at the event.
Former vice presidents Jusuf Kalla, Hamzah Haz and Try Sutrisno were also present at the ceremony to mark the historic state ideology declaration by former president Sukarno 65 years ago.
Yudhoyono was seen talking to Assembly Speaker Taufik Kiemas, Megawati’s husband, when Megawati’s name was announced among the distinguished guests.
“Over there,” Taufik said, pointing to the row where Megawati, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman, and other former state officials were seated.
Taufik said he was very happy to see his wife shaking hands with her bitter political rival.
“However, don’t hug her or I will be mad,” Taufik joked.
Kalla said the positive gesture made by Yudhoyono and Megawati was good for the country. “It’s a symbolic gesture that needs to be appreciated,” he said.
It was the first time the two national figures, who twice competed in for the presidency, had been seen together in public since the 2009 presidential election.
Yudhoyono’s bitter rivalry with Megawati started when the former decided to run for the presidency in 2004 using the newly founded Democratic Party as the political support.
Previously, Yudhoyono was one of Megawati’s most trusted aides and was even the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister in her Cabinet.
When Yudhoyono decided to compete with her head-to-head, their relationship turned sour.
The rivalry also turned personal, with Taufik once calling Yudhoyono a general who acted like a “child”.
With Golkar’s Kalla as his running mate, Yudhoyono then defeated the pair of Megawati and Hasyim Muzadi for the 2004 presidency.
The rivalry continued in 2009, when Yudhoyono again emerged as the winner, this time with Boediono as his running mate, defeating the pairs of Megawati and Prabowo of the Greater Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra); and Kalla and Wiranto of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura).
After the 2009 election, Yudhoyono managed to reconcile with Taufik by using the vast political influence of the Democratic Party, now the largest party at the House, to endorse the latter to become the MPR speaker.
Taufik then tried his best to promote an ideological alliance between the Democratic Party and the PDI-P. Megawati, however, has remained unmoved, recently calling on the PDI-P to maintain its position as the major opposition party in the House.
