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Analysis: PDI-P faces test of unity ahead of national congress

Tenggara Strategics (The Jakarta Post)
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Fri, January 24, 2025

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Analysis: PDI-P faces test of unity ahead of national congress Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) Megawati Soekarnoputri speaks with (ki-ka) Chairwoman of Political and Security Affairs Puan Maharani and Chair of the UMKM, Creative Economy and Economics Division of Prananda Prabowo in the Determination of Regional Candidate Pair of Regional Heads in Jakarta, Wednesday, February 19 2020. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) officially establishes 49 pairs of candidates for district / city and 1 provincial level to advance in the Regional Election in 2020. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

T

he Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is still the biggest party in the country, yet its position with respect to President Prabowo Subianto’s administration is either hanging in the balance or remains unclear. However, the ongoing corruption investigation into PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto has driven the party closer to the President, as PDI-P chair Megawati Soekarnoputri signaled during the party’s anniversary celebration on Jan. 10.

Megawati has led the party since 1993 and sailed through rough waves, including an internal rift supported by Soeharto’s New Order regime, which culminated in the violent takeover of the party’s headquarters on July 3, 1996.

Following the fall of Soeharto in 1998, the party won the first democratic elections in 1999, but Megawati lost the presidential race to fellow reform icon Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid. Only in 2001 did she finally ascend from vice president to president after the People’s Consultative Assembly impeached Gus Dur.

The PDI-P stayed outside of the government after Megawati conceded defeat to her former chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the 2004 and 2009 elections. The party regained its glory in 2014, when it won both the legislative and presidential race through populist member Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

The PDI-P hegemony continued in the 2019 election, which also saw Jokowi win his second term. Ties between the two unraveled ahead of the 2024 elections: Megawati nominated Ganjar Pranowo for president while Jokowi chose Prabowo, who then picked Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his running mate.

Like Jokowi, Prabowo is obsessed with a big-tent coalition to minimize opposition. Since his inauguration in October, Prabowo has brought in all parties with seats in the House of Representatives, except the PDI-P. A meeting between Prabowo and Megawati has been brokered but has never materialized.

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In fact, the PDI-P is torn between an internal faction that wants it to accept Prabowo’s invitation to join the ruling coalition, led by his Gerindra Party, and another camp that insists on an opposition role to win the 2029 elections.

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