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Megawati resists unveiling party's stance on new government
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Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri delivers a speech at the party's national meeting on May 24, 2024. (The Jakarta Post/Courtesy of PDI-P)
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ndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri has defied expectations that she would define her party’s stance on the incoming government by hinting instead that it will assume what analysts say is the role of a “balancing force”, allowing it to exercise its political advantage while maintaining its voter base.
All eyes have been on the PDI-P, the erstwhile political sponsor of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the biggest winner of this year’s legislative election, to choose whether it will join president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s government or head into the opposition.
At the start of the party’s national working meeting last week, Megawati sent a strong message criticizing the work of the Jokowi administration in safeguarding democracy.
But when it came to concluding the three-day event on Sunday, the PDI-P matriarch resisted pressure to unveil the party’s position with regard to the incoming administration.
“It’s pretty presumptuous [to expect an announcement now]. At this very moment I speak, I would still have to properly calculate the political risks,” Megawati said in her closing speech.
“Of course, I’m going to play around with it a bit,” she remarked, adding that it would be best to focus on the upcoming regional elections first.
She later noted that strategic matters such as the PDI-P’s future direction would be decided at the party’s congress scheduled for next year.
