Megawati Sukarnoputri

Megawati Sukarnoputri , 1947-, Indonesian political leader, president of Indonesia (2001-4). The daughter of former president Sukarno , she is seen by many as her father's political heir. Megawati entered politics in 1987 as a candidate of the Indonesian Democratic party (PDI) and served in parliament for 10 years. She was elected head of the PDI for a five-year term in 1993 but was removed in 1996, at which time she formed the Indonesia Democratic party of Struggle (PDI-P). Her party won a plurality in the 1999 parliamentary elections, and she ran unsuccessfully for president the same year; she was later chosen as vice president under Abdurrahman Wahid . Wahid encountered numerous problems as president of a resurgent democracy, and in mid-2000 he turned the administration of everyday operations over to her. When the parliament voted the following year to remove Wahid from office, she was chosen as president. She subsequently (2004) failed to win election to the office at the polls, losing to former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono .

Sukarnoputri, Megawati (b. 23 Jan. 1947), President of Indonesia, 2001–  Born at Yogyakarta, she is the daughter of Indondesia's first president, Achmad Sukarno. As such, she was part of the political establishment, and became leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party. However, in 1996 she lost Suharto's support and had to resign. She created the rival Indonesia Democratic Party–Struggle (PDI–P), which in the 1998 elections received over 30 per cent of the vote and became the strongest parliamentary party. Parliament only made her Vice-President, however. The Muslim parties in particular supported her rival for the Presidency, Bacharuddin Habibie. When Habibie became tainted by corruption allegations and was faced with growing popular unrest, he resigned and Sukarnoputri succeeded him. She was faced with the difficult task of stabilizing Indonesia's fragile political system while trying to overcome its economic instability.