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Megawati signals joining opposition, says safeguarding democracy important
Speaking before thousands of PDI-P cadres during the opening ceremony of the party’s National Working Meeting (Rakernas) in Jakarta on Friday, Megawati said the cadres should be prepared to step out of the “comfort zone” to safeguard democracy.
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Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (center) delivers a speech during the party's 51st anniversary in Jakarta on Jan. 10, 2024. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
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ndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri has given her clearest signal to date that the party may take up an opposition role toward the incoming government of president-elect Prabowo Subianto, stressing that democracy requires checks and balances.
Speaking before thousands of PDI-P cadres during the opening ceremony of the party’s National Working Meeting (Rakernas) in Jakarta on Friday, Megawati said the cadres should be prepared to step out of the “comfort zone” to safeguard democracy.
“In dealing with future politics, as a party that has a long history, we still emphasize the importance of checks and balances; that democracy requires [both],” Megawati said in her first ever public speech after February’s general election that saw the defeat of the party’s presidential nominee, Ganjar Pranowo.
“However, we do not deny that politics urges us to gain power. However, the way we gain power is what differentiates us from the others,” she stressed.
Ganjar lost to president-elect Prabowo Subianto by a wide margin after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, backed by the PDI-P for almost a decade, tacitly campaigned for Prabowo who ended up running alongside Jokowi’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
The PDI-P, however, scored a historic hat trick in the legislative elections by winning the most votes three times in a row, with 16.89 percent of the total vote in the latest legislative election last February.
The daughter of the country’s first President Sukarno further reflected the country’s worrying state of democracy as she expressed her concern over the “widespread, systematic and structured” fraud tainting the February election, calling it the “worst election” in the country’s history.
