Novali Panji Nugroho, Jakarta – Activists from the 98 Resistance Forum have come together to voice their anxieties about the quality of democracy in the era of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. They highlighted the issue of Airlangga Hartanto's ousting as general chairperson of the Golkar Party recently.
One of the 1998 activists, Usman Hamid, referred to the resignation of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy as the leader of the party with the banyan tree as its symbol as a democratic coup d'etat. He suspects the main actor behind this democratic coup is President Widodo.
"There is a main actor who carried out a kind of democratic coup d'etat or an arbitrary takeover of power", said Hamid in Jakarta on Tuesday August 13.
Airlangga's resignation, said Hamid, is a political fact that shows the abnormalities of the elite circulation or power within the Golkar Party. Abnormalities, he said, that have taken democracy in Indonesia to the lowest point during the Widodo administration.
Hamid said that the retreat of democracy can be seen from the three pillars of democracy that Widodo has often intervened in. The first pillar being the political parties.
"The Airlangga case is only the tip of the iceberg", said the executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.
He highlighted a number of cases where political party officials have been held hostage through legal cases. For example, said Hamid, the criminalisation targeting Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto.
The second pillar of democracy, is civil society, which does not have freedom of expression or the freedom to express opinions. Then the third pillar is the general elections that are ridden with intervention and political interests.
Hamid said that Widodo also uses law enforcement institutions to intervene for the sake of power. Starting from the institution of the National Police (Polri), the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the Constitutional Court (MK) and the Supreme Court (MA), to the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission or the KPK.
"So we are confronted with a tangible process of dictatorship. Jokowi may well just not want to lose his privileges after he's no longer in power", he said.
According to Hamid, Widodo's manoeuvres before he completes his term in office, which gives the impression he wants to control Golkar, is dangerous for the country.
Therefore, he believes that there is a need for massive resistance from civil society, the political parties that are in opposition or critical, the mass media and students against the democratic coup d'etat carried out by Widodo.
Speaking separately, President Widodo has denied cawe-cawe (meddling) in the process of Airlangga's resignation saying it is an internal party affair.
"Airlangga's resignations is an internal party affair, there are processes and mechanisms. Ask Golkar and Pak [Mr] Airlangga, I don't interfere in party affairs. Theres been no (cawe-cawe)", he said speaking at the new capital city Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan on Tuesday.
-- Daniel A. Fajri contributed to writing this article.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aktivis 98 Duga Ada Peran Jokowi di Balik Mundurnya Airlangga dari Ketum Golkar".]
