Annisa Febiola, Jakarta – Megawati Sukarnoputri, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), has sharply criticized the conduct of the 2024 regional elections, asserting that the people's sovereignty is being manipulated for the sake of power.
She expressed deep concern about the future of Indonesian democracy. "Democracy is now threatened to die due to the power that justifies all means. This power is able to use state resources and tools," she said in a video statement on Wednesday night, November 27, 2024.
Megawati cited numerous reports from various regions, including Banten, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, and North Sulawesi, highlighting irregularities and abuses of power. In particular, she pointed to the massive deployment of regional officials in Central Java and the transfer of police apparatus for political ends.
"This should not be allowed anymore, considering that the Constitutional Court has made an important decision that state officials who are not neutral can be prosecuted," she emphasized.
She mentioned that she knows Central Java well, having been elected three times as a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the province. She said that Central Java is not only the home of PDIP supporters but also a bastion of nationalist and patriotic ideals. Now, Central Java is witnessing a disturbing trend of abuse of power.
According to her, the energy of people's movements, sympathizers, and militant cadres should not be defeated if the elections are conducted fairly, honestly, and justly. But when everything can be mobilized by power, stifling occurs, she said.
"What is happening now is beyond the limits of decency, ethics, morals, and conscience," she remarked.
Megawati called on all supporters and members of PDIP, as well as all Indonesian people, to speak out against injustice. She pledged that PDIP would continue to fight for justice and resist power intimidation.
"Regional elections should reflect an improvement in civilization, ethics, morals, and conscience. We continue to resist in a measured manner within the legal corridor, even though we know that laws are increasingly being made far from justice," she stated.
Megawati further outlined five key appeals regarding the conduct of the 2024 regional elections: protect people's voices; document intimidation and abuse, especially regarding money politics; expose social assistance mobilization; document instances of obstruction and injustice, such as those that occurred in Banten; and mobilize the people to speak out against injustice.