Megawati Soekarnoputri (centre) posing with Vice President Ma'ruf Amin (second left), House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani (left), party official Prananda Prabowo (second right), acting United Development Party (PPP) chairman Muhammad Mardiono and presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo (third right) at the party's 51st anniversary celebration in Jakarta on Jan 10, 2024. - Antara
JAKARTA: Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri used the 51st anniversary of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on (Jan 10) to criticise unnamed leaders who she described as being “power hungry” ahead of the 2024 general election.
Speaking at the party’s official anniversary event, the PDI-P chairwoman warned party members never to use elections as a means to cling to power, a point that many observers saw as being directed at President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Under the theme 'satyam eva jayate', a Sanskrit phrase meaning “truth alone prevails”, the matriarch delivered an address promoting honesty in politics.
“An election is not a tool for the elite to extend their rule by any means necessary. There are morals and ethics in elections that must be upheld,” Megawati said at the party’s education centre in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta.
“Power has its limits. It expires at some point, regardless of the position. Only God is eternal,” she said.
In the hour-long fiery speech live-streamed on YouTube, Megawati warned about people who intended to divide the nation in order to take power.
The senior politician strongly criticised those who manipulated the law for their own gain and were out of touch with the electorate. She called these unnamed people “power hungry” and urged them to cultivate 'eling', a Javanese term for an understanding of the legacies and struggles of past leaders.
“I was once president, you know? After the election, I didn’t make a fuss about it. So be it, if that’s what the people voted for,” the party leader said. Political experts said her speech was clearly referring to Jokowi and his allies.
“It was also a message of hope for all the other party members to act better than Jokowi,” said Agung Baskoro, executive director of pollster Trias Politika Strategis. The rift between Jokowi and his former sponsor extended to the anniversary event’s guest list.
Cabinet members unaffiliated with the party were in attendance, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif. Also in attendance were Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki and Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno.
But Vice President Ma'ruf Amin was the most senior state official to attend the party event. Megawati thanked him for being “willing to come”.
Ma’ruf recently spoke out against Jokowi’s suggestion that the format of the remaining election debates be changed. The President claimed the prevailing arrangement failed to allow candidates to promote and defend their policies sufficiently.
The senior Muslim cleric said the voters should be left to conclude on their own whether candidates had succeeded in promoting their campaign platforms.
A separate government event, held that same day, featured several other cabinet ministers, including Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto and members of his electoral alliance. Incidently, they were not on the PDI-P’s guest list despite being party politicians.
This year was the first time Jokowi was absent from the PDI-P anniversary event in his tenure as president. He had been a regular guest of Megawati’s at the event since winning the presidency in 2014 with the PDI-P’s backing.
Jokowi was in the Philippines on the day of the event, as part of a wider tour of South-East Asia, but said previously that he had not received an invitation to the anniversary celebration.
The PDI-P has said it declined to extend the invitation because it knew the President would be away on duty overseas.
The party’s snub and the President’s absence confirmed the end of their relationship, Trias Politika Strategis’ Agung told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Barred from seeking a third term as president, Jokowi has been accused of misusing his office to build a political dynasty and maintain his influence after stepping down by way of his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Gibran, a business owner who once shied away from his father’s political life, is now running for vice president alongside Jokowi’s former rival for the presidency, Defence Minister Prabowo.
At 36, he threw his hat into the ring after the Constitutional Court, led at the time by his uncle, carved out an exception to the candidate age minimum of 40 that allowed him to run. Since then, tensions between the PDI-P and Jokowi have spilled over into campaigning for the upcoming election.
Jokowi has never openly endorsed Prabowo and remains a nominal member of the PDI-P, although his colleagues claim he has “left the party behind” and have accused him of misusing his position to block the bid of the party’s current presidential nominee, Ganjar Pranowo.
In Wednesday’s speech, Megawati appealed to the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), as well as election organisers, to commit to staying impartial and professional in the midst of “growing public angst” over what she described as recent instances of intimidation by the state apparatus ahead of the elections.
She recalled a recent incident in Boyolali in which a group of Ganjar supporters experienced a violent altercation with locally stationed soldiers, which she described as unthinkable. Seven people were injured in the incident.
“Truth in elections only occurs when the people are able to express their conscience freely and independently,” Megawati said.
“Let people choose their leaders freely and wisely. Don't push, order or intimidate them with violence. Sorry to say, but even the New Order fell apart at the end of the day.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
