Vaudine England, Jakarta – In the style of ancient Javanese royalty, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri is refusing to say whether she would like to be president, while watching power come to her.
The day after a nameless aide claimed Ms Megawati had set three conditions for taking over from President Abdurrahman Wahid, other political aides denied the claims. Regardless of the rumours, Ms Megawati's office has become a magnet for anyone seeking approval for their ideas, or support.
"Everyone visits her, from bupatis [district regents] to generals and business people. They visit her instead of President Wahid," said Marcus Mietzner, a political analyst. "Power is already moving to Mega."
The other sign of Ms Megawati's growing prominence in daily governance is her body language, analysts say. They note her actions at an air force anniversary on Monday where she mingled with the crowd and talked to armed forces chief Admiral Widodo Adisucipto while Mr Wahid dozed in a chair. As if by chance, she demonstrated without formal statement that she has the capabilities of eyesight and networking, which Mr Wahid lacks.
When Mr Wahid delivered a reply to Parliament's censure of him recently, Ms Megawati sat beside him but looked in the other direction and refused his offer of a sweet. An aide in her office admitted the moves were deliberate.
During Mr Wahid's recent absence from the country, when communal fighting broke out in Central Kalimantan and floods hit West Java, Ms Megawati again demonstrated the way she wanted to move forward.
She visited Banten, worst hit by floods, and engaged in practical discussions with local leaders, giving instructions on how to avoid flooding in the future. In Central Kalimantan, she wept with refugees. By contrast, Mr Wahid's later trip to Central Kalimantan provoked indigenous Dayaks into more violence, which left five people dead.
"She's demonstrating her view of what the state-society relationship should be like," Mr Mietzner said. "When she becomes president, people know ... she will listen, she will keep her word. Things will calm down."
But before this can happen, Ms Megawati has to decide whether to accept the backing of former enemies in Parliament to take the presidency. She is known to be deeply worried that the forces gathering behind impeachment moves against Mr Wahid in her favour can just as easily be turned against her.
A source close to Ms Megawati said this is where some realpolitik is at work: Ms Megawati has authorised the construction of poskos, or command posts, of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) across the country, and is reportedly planning a mass demonstration of her supporters in Mr Wahid's home province of East Java.
The event is planned for April 28, before the April 30 hearing in Parliament which legislators say will be used to issue a second reprimand against Mr Wahid, a move one step away from declaring him unfit for office.
Significantly, Ms Megawati has refused to be drawn into a suggested "reconciliation meeting" with Mr Wahid and parliamentary leaders.
"She will not attend the reconciliation talks proposed by President Wahid if they are only about political bargaining instead of solving the political crisis which is the country's main problem," said Pramono Anung, deputy secretary-general of the PDI-P.