Megawati as shopoholic?

Is it just me, or do most articles about Megawati Sukarnoputri contain the subtext that she's - as the saying goes - not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree?

I have no personal knowledge of her, or axe to grind. But it seems that many journalists dance diplomatically around the idea that she's not that swift, or that she's more consumed with subjects like gardening and shopping than les affaires d'etat.

Now a new book more or less says it overtly. Dari Sukarno Sampai SBY doles out juicy anecdotes about Indonesian heads of state. Megawati, for her part, is said to "lose concentration" when it comes to geopolitics instead of cooking.

Could be a sexist take on a female leader, I suppose. But historically speaking, it wouldn't be at all surprising if the latest in a dynastic political line is not exactly (to use another expression) the sharpest knife in the drawer. George W. Bush, anyone?


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