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Megawati Soekarnoputri is at the center of Indonesia’s democratic conundrum
Megawati’s unchallenged authority in the party and favoritism for Puan are distant from the democracy that Indonesia wants to live in. These place her right in the middle of the country’s democratic conundrum.
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Food for thought: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) receives a slice of rice cone from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri during the opening of the party’s national executive meeting in Jakarta, on June 21, 2022. (Courtesy of/Press Bureau of Presidential Secretariat)
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ounting down the months before the voting day in the 2024 presidential election, one key politician has yet to place her bet. She seems unperturbed despite the fact that others have coalesced into coalitions to field candidates for the race and insists on her own timetable toward this next chapter in her political leadership career.
For the 2024 election, it is widely known that she seeks to score a hat trick, a third time in a row winning the presidential and national legislative elections, after the 2014 and 2019 terms. If she were to succeed in her ambition, it would be a remarkable feat in Indonesia’s political history. Indeed, it would be a longevity and legacy to beat. Regardless of her tactics to achieve that goal, her long unbroken line of more than 30 years in politics marked by triumph and tribulations is historic.
Today, Megawati Soekarnoputri is the longest serving political leader in Indonesia, and her tenure encompasses highlights and low points in the nation’s political life. Only some 20 years after her father’s demise from the pinnacle of power did she begin consolidating the ideological spirit of Indonesia’s nationalism. She rose to the leadership of the Indonesia Democratic Party (PDI) only to have her standing vandalized by the New Order regime.
Rebuilding her movement as one of key opposition forces to the regime, she led her party to win a third of the votes in the first open election in 44 years. Becoming the president in the middle of political turmoil, she continued to insist on constitutional and democratic order by opening direct election for executive positions, including the presidency. Losing in two presidential elections herself, she nonetheless built the party to remain the leading political movement in the country. The 2014 and 2019 elections are the testament of such tenacity and resilience.
There are several insights one can draw from this trajectory and which could be imperative for future politics in the country. First is the insistence on constitutional order, that politics must be within a formal and legal framework, rather than just an expression of power. Second, and of no less importance, is Megawati’s conscious embracing of secular and even leftist segments of the political spectrum, as well as ethnic and religious minorities.
Third is her understanding of the intimate sociocultural contexts of national politics, as well as leveraging her Javanese origin. She has forged a tie with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the traditionalist Islamic organization that is critical in establishing a majority.
Many might have overlooked Megawati’s far-reaching political influence with her sometimes mocking media coverage. Several of her controversial statements on current issues have caused her to go viral in news cycles but have never heavily impacted her standing. Her simple designation with the honorific Ibu in the national political parlance is further evidence that her role extends beyond her own formal attribution as a party chairperson.
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