1. Megawati Sukarnoputri is Indonesia's first and only female president to date in a Muslim-majority country.
60 Facts About Megawati Sukarnoputri
1. 2.
Megawati Sukarnoputri became president in 2001 when Abdurrahman Wahid was impeached and removed from office.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri ran for re-election in the 2004 presidential election, but was defeated by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri ran again against Yudhoyono in the 2009 presidential election, and was defeated a second time.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri is the first and current leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, one of Indonesia's largest political parties.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri is the eldest daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri is often referred to as simply Megawati or Mega, derived from Sanskrit meaning 'cloud goddess.
8.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was born in Yogyakarta to Sukarno, who had declared Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands 2 years prior in 1945 and Fatmawati, a Minang descended from Inderapuran aristocracy, one of his nine wives.
9.
Megawati Sukarnoputri danced for her father's guests and developed a gardening hobby.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri was 19 when her father relinquished power in 1966 and was succeeded by a government which eventually came to be led by President Suharto.
11.
Megawati Sukarnoputri attended Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung to study agriculture but dropped out in 1967 to be with her father following his fall.
12.
In 1970, the year her father died, Megawati Sukarnoputri went to the Universitas Indonesia to study psychology but dropped out after two years.
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Up to that time, Megawati Sukarnoputri had seen herself as a housewife, but in 1987 she joined PDI and ran for a People's Representative Council seat.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri quickly became popular, her status as Sukarno's daughter offsetting her lack of oratorical skills.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri was not reelected, but continued as a PDI member.
16.
Megawati Sukarnoputri's candidacy received such overwhelming support that her election at the Congress became a formality.
17.
Suryadi's supporters attacked PDI Headquarters and faced resistance from Megawati Sukarnoputri supporters stationed there.
18.
The restrictions on Megawati Sukarnoputri were removed and she began to consolidate her political position.
19.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected chair and was nominated as PDI-P's presidential candidate.
20.
At the last minute, Megawati Sukarnoputri chose not to attend, because she decided that she could not trust Amien.
21.
Megawati Sukarnoputri threw her support behind Matori Abdul Djalil, the Chair of PKB.
22.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was overwhelmingly defeated by Amien Rais, who in addition to enjoying Central Axis support was backed by Golkar.
23.
Megawati Sukarnoputri took an early lead, but was overtaken and lost with 313 votes compared to Wahid's 373.
24.
PDI-P had considered nominating Megawati Sukarnoputri, but were concerned that the Central Axis and Golkar coalition would again thwart her.
25.
Megawati Sukarnoputri faced stiff competition from Hamzah Haz, Akbar Tandjung, and General Wiranto.
26.
Hamzah Haz stayed in the race, but Megawati Sukarnoputri defeated him 396 to 284.
27.
The First PDI-P Congress was held in Semarang, Central Java, in April 2000, at which Megawati Sukarnoputri was re-elected as chair for a second term.
28.
Megawati Sukarnoputri consolidated her position within PDI-P by taking harsh measures to remove potential rivals.
29.
Disillusioned with what he perceived to be a cult of personality developing around Megawati Sukarnoputri, Eros left PDI-P.
30.
Megawati Sukarnoputri kept his position as a People's Representative Council member, but left the party to become a university lecturer.
31.
At another occasion, when the political tide began to turn against Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Sukarnoputri defended him and lashed out against critics.
32.
In 2001, Megawati Sukarnoputri began to distance herself from Abdurrahman Wahid as a Special Session of the MPR approached and her prospects of becoming president improved.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri thus became the sixth woman to lead a Muslim-majority country.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri established the first general election system, where the Indonesian people can directly elect the president and vice president, in addition to electing legislative candidates.
35.
Megawati Sukarnoputri played an important role in the formation of the Corruption Eradication Commission, an institution tasked with eradicating corruption in Indonesia.
36.
One of the roles of the TNI in the democratic political system carried out by President Megawati Sukarnoputri was specifically deciding to transfer the authority to carry out security operations in Maluku from the hands of the Police to the hands of the TNI which proved effective in restoring stability in 2002.
37.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri revived the Iskandar Muda Regional Military Command in February 2002.
38.
Megawati Sukarnoputri passed Law No 3 2002 on National Defense which outlines huge changes to the military.
39.
Megawati Sukarnoputri involved non-governmental organizations to assist the military in non-military threats.
40.
On 19 May 2003, in response of GAM refusal of the Tokyo peace deal which planned to end the decades long insurgency in Aceh, Megawati Sukarnoputri gave the 12th Indonesian Military Chief General Endriartono Sutarto, permission to commence military operations against the GAM separatist.
41.
Since her inauguration, Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration strive to provide conditions that conducive to rebuilding the economy that has been in ruins ever since the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the political crisis since Suharto's fall between 1998 and 2001.
42.
Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration is widely known for privatizations of state owned enterprises.
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However, her privatization on SOEs especially on Indosat generated criticisms and Megawati Sukarnoputri was accused as a neoliberal.
44.
Under Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia reaffirmed its presence in Papua and positioned itself as the central government and ensured that the doctrine of independence and the ideas of freedom and self-determination did not emerge.
45.
In 2003, Megawati Sukarnoputri launched a reforestation program in the form of the National Movement for Forest and Terrain Rehabilitation.
46.
Rokhmin said that her personal hobby has made Megawati Sukarnoputri to be more aware and concerned about policies related to environmental conservation.
47.
Incumbent president Megawati Sukarnoputri was the PDI-P's top nominee, seeking to become the first woman elected in her own right as president of a Muslim-majority country.
48.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was joined by vice-presidential candidate Hasyim Muzadi, general chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama.
49.
Megawati Sukarnoputri did not attend the new president's inauguration and never congratulated him.
50.
On 11 September 2007 Megawati Sukarnoputri announced her candidacy in the 2009 presidential election at a PDI-P gathering.
51.
On 24 February 2012, Megawati Sukarnoputri distanced herself from polls that placed her as a top contender for the 2014 presidential election.
52.
Megawati Sukarnoputri later criticize Jokowi's decision, quipping him for not carrying out the party line of struggle, which resulted in a controversy.
53.
On 10 January 2024, during the 51st anniversary of PDI-P, Megawati Sukarnoputri made a speech about several strategic issues, such as neutrality of the authorities, democracy, elections and volunteers.
54.
Megawati Sukarnoputri then gave a satirical speech for Joko Widodo, touching on the stigma of the role of volunteers in winning the presidential election and emphasizing that only parties have the authority to nominate president and vice president.
55.
Megawati Sukarnoputri added that Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD were energetic, intelligent and cared about the little people.
56.
Megawati Sukarnoputri gained position as Head of National Research and Innovation Agency Steering Committee since 5 May 2021, and she was formally appointed on 13 September 2021.
57.
On 4 October 2023, Megawati Sukarnoputri had a meeting with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur.
58.
Megawati Sukarnoputri perished in a plane crash in Biak, West Irian, on 22 January 1970.
59.
Megawati Sukarnoputri then married Taufiq Kiemas on 25 March 1973.
60.
Megawati Sukarnoputri has three children, Mohammad Rizki Pratama, Muhammad Prananda Prabowo, and Puan Maharani.