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Analysis: Questioning PDI-P’s readiness to play an opposition role
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Ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (left) played host to a postelection meeting with Gerindra Party patron Prabowo Subianto (right) on Wednesday. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
F
rom the outset of Prabowo Subianto’s presidency, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was touted to play an opposition role. However, four months since he took office, the party has barely made headway in contesting any significant legislation, let alone take a firm, public stand in opposition to Prabowo.
Things might be different now, after the recent detention of PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto by the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) for his alleged abetment in the escape of graft convict and PDI-P member Harun Masiku.
Hasto came out swinging after his arrest. In an attempt to bring down Joko “Jokowi” Widodo with him, he urged the KPK to look into the former president and his family for potential corruption, alluding to Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s son, and newly installed North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution, the ex-president’s son-in-law. “Hopefully, this will be a moment for the KPK to enforce the law without exception, including investigating Jokowi's family,” Hasto said.
Party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri has also sprung into action to defend Hasto, a close confidant. In what many viewed as an act of defiance against the KPK’s decision, she prohibited PDI-P members who were inaugurated as regional heads from participating in the mandatory retreat, organized by Prabowo at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java.
Home Minister Tito Karnavian pointed to the noticeable absence of PDI-P members at the ongoing retreat and criticized Megawati’s decision, emphasizing that regional heads were elected by the people of their regions and were meant to serve them, not their parties.
To alleviate some of the pressure on the party, PDI-P spokesperson Ahmad Basarah said Megawati had never prohibited its members from participating in the retreat. Instead, he said, she had merely called on them to postpone attending the retreat until the second round, intended for regional leaders whose inauguration was delayed due to unresolved election disputes, court-mandated vote recounts and election reruns.
However, Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung and several other regional heads from the PDI-P have turned up for the retreat. Pramono said he decided to attend because Megawati had asked him to be a mediator for the party’s relations with the central government, a role he has filled often since winning the regional elections.
