Thread by @olliekarp

In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce former Indonesian president and current PDI-P chairperson, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

She's known for being Indonesia's first and only female president, but she's also known for her relations with Putin.

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Megawati is known for being the daughter of Soekarno, the "Founding Father of Indonesia" who became the country's first president.

Hence, her patronym "Soekarnoputri" means "daughter of Soekarno".

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Megawati lived an ordinary life until the 1970s when she married an Indonesian businessman named Taufiq Kiemas, who later joined the PDI (which became PDI-P in 1999).

Kiemas died of a heart attack in 2013.

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Megawati entered politics in 1987 when she was elected to the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly. Then, in 1993, she became the head of the PDI.

She became a symbol of opposition against Soeharto, in which she became a pro-democracy figure similar to Corazon Aquino.

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As Megawati rose in popularity as an "opposition figure" in the 1990s, the Soeharto regime began to notice, culminating to the ouster of Megawati as PDI head during the Medan Special Congress in 1996.

Then, Laksamana Sukardi, a Megawati supporter from the PDI,...

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...called Megawati's ouster a "coup", thus culminating to anger that led to the July 1996 Jakarta riots, led by Megawati's supporters.

Moreover, Budiman Sudjatmiko was involved in the riots. Read more here:

6/25 https://t.co/wf54EeEh5S

After the 1996 riots, the PDI was sidelined, so Megawati and her fans supported another Indonesian opposition party, the United Development Party (PPP).

After the fall of Soeharto in 1998, the PDI became the PDI-P in 1999, nominating Megawati as its presidential candidate.

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Megawati served as Indonesia's VP from 1999-01 under the administration of Gus Dur.

After Gus Dur's impeachment in 2001, Megawati became Indonesia's first female president, serving her tenure from 2001-04.

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Although Megawati stabilised the democratisation process, her presidency was criticised for "being marked with indecisiveness".

During that time, Indonesia was still under a US arms embargo cuz of human rights violations at East Timor, so she approached towards Russia.

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Megawati wanted to improve Indonesian defences, and she was originally supposed to purchase defence equipment from the US and UK.

However, cuz of the embargo, Megawati ended up phoning Putin instead, who invited her to come to Russia for "defence equipment".

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Then, in April 21, 2003, Megawati paid an official visit to Russia, in which she signed some agreement named "Declaration of the Republic of Indonesia and the Russian Federation on the Framework of Friendly and Partnership Relations in the 21st Century" with Putin.

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Besides increased Indonesia-Russia trade and defence relations, the agreement led to Megawati's purchase of two Russian Sukhoi Suu-27SK fighter jets, two SU-30MK jets, and two Mi-35 helicopters from Putin.

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Moreover, Megawati's arms purchase from Putin was worth approximately $193M, which was higher than $18M of Russian jet orders in 2000.

It was also approximately 88% financed from counter-trade in palm oil x other commodities, in which...

13/25

...Jakarta would give Russia some Indonesian natural resources like coffee, rubber, chocolate, and even electrical appliances.

However, this sparked concerns from opposition peeps, who stated that Megawati's Minister of Trade and Industry crafted the deal with Putin...

14/25

...as a means to give mark-up opportunities to Megawati-allied businessmen, as well as kickbacks to fund Megawati's re-election campaign.

Plus, concerns were expressed about how Megawati's deal with Putin was passed without the presence of Indonesia's defence minister.

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Meanwhile, Rizal Ramli expressed concerns that Megawati's deal with Putin could be used as a "cover-up for short-term interests, corruption, and other illegal stuff", while Indonesian government officials once recommended the sanctioning of officials involved in the deal.

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In August 2003, the Russian jets that Megawati purchased from Putin arrived in Indonesia, but Indonesian defence officials rendered them "unready" cuz they lacked missiles and avionics.

However, Jakarta voted not to hold Megawati accountable for the Putin deal,...

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...claiming that "these allegations are unconfirmed".

After her presidency, Megawati continued to be personal friends with Putin that she received an "Order of Friendship" award from Russia in 2021, peepotalking about a possible Russo-Indonesian space cooperation.

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As a "personal friend of Putin", Megawati is also known for her pro-Russia peepotalking remarks.

One year after Russia invaded Ukraine in 02/24, Megawati claimed that "the war in Ukraine is not a war but [just] a battle", which reminds me...

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...of the infamous term "special military operation".

Megawati called the war in Ukraine as "less balanced", spewing a pro-Russia "Ukraine was the one who started the war" peepotalking remark when she said "...Ukraine doesn't think, why do you want to fight Russia, why?"

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When the NATO countries and their allies were providing military and financial aid to the Ukrainian heroes, Megawati scolded Zelenskyy for "looking for support everywhere", calling Zelesnkyy as "a Ukrainian artist who is not relying on his own country".

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Then, Megawati suggested that "Russian weapons should not be underestimated".

When it comes to Russia's defeat in its invasion of Ukraine, she claimed that "...Russia just flinched", adding that "...the weapons from Zelenskyy are like toys".

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Megawati is also known for meeting other notorious figures, including Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former PH President, and Rosmah Mansor, wife of Najib Razak also involved in 1MDB.

She even met Xi Jinping during a CCP-organised BRICS forum in 2022.

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Megawati was also known to be shrouded with controversies during her presidency, including internal embezzlement, an acquittal of Soeharto's son, and an instance when she received flak for spending two days in Hong Kong instead of attending to her country.

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Megawati is the current chairperson of PDI-P, which picked Ganjar Pranowo as its preferred candidate for the 2024 Indonesian elections.

I haven't seen any results on Megawati's stances on Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. She has fallen from "beloved hero" to "villain".

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Related entries:
Russian narratives (#vatniksoup) - https://t.co/7tIKhxzQmH

Najib Razak - https://t.co/jDFdH2nPIsbuymeacoffee.com/olliekarp

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Shoutouts:
@P_Kallioniemi, @Aaron_MatthewIL, @outlierplanet, @RadityoDharmaP, @PepiUtami, @NervosaCafe

If you have any more info, feel free to comment below.

This is Phase 1, Entry 29 of the #dailysoup. Feel free to read the previous entries here 👇
bit.ly/thedailysoup

@P_Kallioniemi @Aaron_MatthewIL @outlierplanet @RadityoDharmaP @PepiUtami @NervosaCafe APPENDIX: Megawati and her children were with another Indonesian vatnik, Connie Bakrie, in a recent inauguration of the Bung Karno-369 Indonesian warship.

During the event, Megawati peepotalked about how "Cuba maintained its sovereignty during the Bay of Pigs attack"...

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...and then Megawati added that "she once visited the Heroes' Cemetery in Russia".

Meanwhile, articles about the Bung Karno-369 inauguration failed to mention that Bakrie was there.

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There was one time when Bakrie praised Megawati's pro-Russia peepotalking points.

For more info about Bakrie, you may refer to this entry:

3/3 https://t.co/R7JOEgGlbC

APPENDIX: Megawati recently claimed that "Ukraine has a forgotten history", adding that "Russia allowed Ukraine to separate from the Soviet Union".

Hmmm...this reminds me of one time when a former Malaysian PM, Mahathir Mohamad, said that same peepotalking point before.

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Contrary to Megawati's claims, the post-Soviet countries, including Ukraine, were the ones initiating their separation from the Soviet Union and then their joining of NATO cuz they were suffering under the archaic Soviet communist system.



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Megawati also has relations with North Korea. During her presidency, she paid a visit to N. Korea to visit Kim Jong-il.

Megawati recently suggested that "Indonesia should emulate N. Korea in terms of its nuclear capacity program. Meanwhile,...



3/4 https://t.co/1mPatt7GlS

...Megawati's sister, Rachmawati once awarded Kim Jong-un with the "Star of Soekarno" for "fighting against neo-colonialist imperialism".

This reminds me of a certain politician in my country who shilled for N. Korea before.



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