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House Speaker Puan takes jab at Jokowi as she laments declining democracy
At the annual People’s Consultative Assembly plenary session on Friday, House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani lamented the declining state of democracy in Indonesia in what appeared to be a jab at outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
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House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) (center), alongside People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party (left) and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Speaker La Nyalla Mattalitti (right), delivers her speech during the annual MPR plenary meeting at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Aug. 16, 2024. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra )
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Puan, a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), highlighted the people's power in a democratic country, saying that the people should prevail as victors in elections and that elections are supposed to be “a celebration of democracy”.
“The people have also voted through elections, but were the elections conducted in a free, honest and fair process? Answer it yourselves,” Puan said.
She also underlined that Indonesia is “a country for everyone, not just for one person or group”.
Although Puan did not mention any names in the speech she made before Jokowi delivered his final State of the Nation Address, analysts saw it as a clear jab at the outgoing President, who will leave office in October.
The PDI-P had been Jokowi’s political vehicle for two decades. But the party and Jokowi parted ways after he tacitly endorsed his former rival-turned-ally Prabowo Subianto as his successor and let his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka run as Prabowo’s running mate against his former party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the February election. Gibran and Prabowo will be inaugurated on Oct. 20.
PDI-P politicians and activists have been vocal in criticizing what they viewed as the partiality of Jokowi’s administration during the election and his attempts to ensure the future of his own political dynasty, which Jokowi has denied.
