Megawati delayed party heads' trip to Prabowo retreat in power gamble

Hours after her trusted aide’s arrest in a bribery case on Feb 20, Ms Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of Indonesia’s largest political party, ordered regional heads from her party to “postpone” attending a leaders retreat by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

- Arlina Arshad

Representatives from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) were told to delay their retreat to the retreat, and, for those on their way, to stop and wait for further instructions from the party chair.

The party was “monitoring the evolving dynamics of national politics following the legal criminalisation of PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto” by the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), they were told.

This saw many of them gathered in a cafe in the Central Java city of Magelang, instead of at the military academy where the Feb 21 to 28 “boot camp” was set to be held.

However, most eventually attended the event, where senior officials briefed leaders on the President’s vision.

The deadlock was broken on the fourth day by PDI-P loyalist Pramono Anung, the new Jakarta governor and former Cabinet secretary, who “communicated and coordinated” talks between the central government and the party leadership, confirmed PDI-P spokesman Ahmad Basarah in a press conference on Feb 25.

Ms Basarah stressed that Ms Megawati “never disallowed” their attendance at the retreat, and their eventual participation was with her knowledge.

He added: “PDI-P’s position remains that we have no issues with President Prabowo.”

Of Indonesia’s 503 regents, mayors and governors, 97 – nearly one-fifth – are from PDI-P, which also emerged the top party in the 2024 legislative election, securing 110 of the 580 parliamentary seats.

Analysts say Ms Megawati’s directive points to an ongoing power struggle, as she seeks to strengthen her political clout against Mr Prabowo and his supporter and predecessor, former president Joko Widodo, who continues to wield significant political influence.

Mr Arif Susanto, a political analyst at Jakarta-based Exposit Strategic, told The Straits Times that he believed Ms Megawati’s instructions were a knee-jerk reaction to the arrest of her close ally Mr Hasto.