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Medan mayor’s Duterte-style populism is a stark warning for all
There is a clear indication that Bobby is veering into a dangerous lane of populism.
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Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution (right) greets Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (left) in Medan in January 2023. (Antara/Antara)
M
edan Mayor Bobby Nasution, the 32-year-old son-in-law of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, is probably too young to have heard folk singer Iwan Fals’ popular song “Sugali” – or he may just not be much of a fan.
It’s a catchy, country-inflected tune about a thug named Sugali who chooses to live a dangerous life under the New Order’s “Petrus” policy. The name Sugali comes from the word gali, short for gabungan anak-anak liar (wild boys’ gang), a term for urban thugs in the 1970s, while the term “Petrus” is a portmanteau of penembakan misterius (mysterious shootings), referring to the summary killings of preman (thugs) as a supposed means to bring down crime rates in the country.
The song is a grim reminder of a dark episode of our nation’s past, when the state apparatus was regularly mobilized to eliminate the “enemy”, as defined to suit the interests of power.
It is, therefore, extremely disturbing that a few decades after “Sugali” played on radio stations across the country, a member of the first family on the path to becoming a key figure in the President’s nascent political dynasty is supporting a policy that evokes the same horror as the Petrus killings of the early 1980s.
Bobby, responding to the rising cases of begal (violent robbery) in his city, called on the police to take strict action against perpetrators and shoot them dead “if necessary”.
“The violent robberies by motorcycle gangs have caused public concern and should be dealt with firmly because the perpetrators keep repeating their actions,” he said.
