TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

The troubled Dems

The disappointed party members’ approach to Moeldoko simply follows common sense; they need a strong figure to boost the party’s performance. 

Editorial board (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, March 9, 2021

Share This Article

Change Size

The troubled Dems

A

nyone who buys the conspiracy theory circulating in cyberspace that insinuates President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s role in a “takeover” of the Democratic Party will find it difficult to defend such a premise. In fact, looking back at infighting besetting a number of the country’s political parties in the past, what is happening to the Dems is more or less the same old story.

The party that once ruled the country has been on a descending curve since 2014, conceding defeats from one election battle to another. The 2019 legislative election saw the party’s seats in the House of Representatives plummet to 54 from 61 in 2014, despite the fact that the 2019 election offered 575 in total as against 560 in the previous five years. 

It would not make any sense, therefore, if Jokowi, whose coalition already enjoys full control of the House, bothered to take over the troubled Democratic Party, as he would have to find a space within his government for the party in return. Such an unnecessary adventure would be too costly for a pragmatic person like Jokowi.

The only “sin” Jokowi has committed is being the boss of Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, who on Friday was elected in absentia as chairman of the splinter group of the party and on the next day turned up at the group’s extraordinary congress in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra. On Monday, that group, claiming to be the legitimate representation of the Democratic Party, submitted to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights the list of its board of executive members.

Also on Monday, Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono came to the ministry to submit a letter that officially asked the government not to recognize the extraordinary congress and its outcome, saying the event was a gross violation of the party’s statute.

For sure, the Democratic Party, which catapulted Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the presidency in 2004 and again 2009, is now divided. The split marks an internal conflict revolving around discontent among some members with the party’s poor showing in the 2014 and 2019 elections as well as their hopes for the party to bounce back in 2024. They simply have lost confidence in Yudhoyono and the leadership of his son Agus, not to mention the alleged nepotism in the election of Agus as the party’s new chairman last year.

The disappointed party members’ approach to Moeldoko simply follows common sense; they need a strong figure to boost the party’s performance. They might have gone to other ex-generals, but in the end Moeldoko was the one who took the offer.

Jokowi’s silence in the feud plaguing the Democratic Party will sever ties between him and his predecessor and give his detractors more ammunition to bully him and distract him from his agenda, including the COVID-19 response. But prohibiting citizens from expressing their political aspirations is equally unfair.

At the end of the day the government has to make the right decision. Dualism will only create legal uncertainty.

In the short term, Jokowi should ask Moeldoko to choose between continuing his political ambition or serving the government.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.