Strongest Woman in the World

Megawati has remained an influential political leader in Indonesia since 1999. Although she is no longer the president in Indonesia, Megawati continues to have a major political role because she leads the PDIP.

I remember Hidayat Nur Wahid, then-speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), presenting his paper during the International Conference on Democracy in Istanbul, Turkey, back in 2004.

Thanks to the 1998 Reform Movement, followed by the peaceful elections in 1999 and 2004, Indonesia was repeatedly lauded as an example of a democracy in several speeches. The compliments reaffirmed why Indonesia, represented by the MPR speaker, had been invited to the forum. I immediately put my earphones on when the moderator called, “Mr Hidayat will speak in Arabic.”