JAKARTA: When Prabowo Subianto became Indonesia’s eighth president in 2024, the country’s biggest political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), pointedly avoided calling itself the opposition, choosing instead the softer label of a “balancing party”.
The PDI-P, which controls 110 out of 580 seats in parliament, is one of only two parties not in Prabowo’s ruling coalition. The other party is the National Democratic Party, which has 69 seats in parliament.
Intrigue over the PDI-P’s approach continues as Prabowo marks one year in office on Oct 20, and remains a talking point as the government pushes on with flagship policies such as the free-meals programme and reform of sprawling state-owned enterprises.
Some observers have expressed disappointment in the PDI-P’s muted response to some controversial policies, lamenting a weakened system of checks and balances.
The PDI-P was known as a fierce opposition during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s presidency from 2004 to 2014.
But despite forming a decent-sized minority of nearly a-fifth of Indonesia’s House of Representatives currently, it has shown little resistance so far to policies and legislation initiated by the Prabowo government, analysts said.
Among the laws which went virtually unchallenged by its members of parliament (MPs) was the controversial amendment to the country’s military law, which granted permission for active soldiers to assume civilian positions in 14 government agencies and ministries.
Despite massive public outcry, the law was passed unanimously on Mar 20, just one month after it was first deliberated in parliament.
“The legislature now seems to just go along with whatever the government says,” Kunto Adi Wibowo, a political analyst from West Java’s Padjadjaran University, told CNA. “The joke is that the parliament has become like one of the ministries in Prabowo’s Cabinet.”
The PDI-P also defended the government’s decision to provide a 50 million rupiah monthly housing allowance to MPs.
The monthly allowance, which was about 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta, triggered nationwide protests in August and September. And when police were accused of excessive use of force in handling demonstrations that ensued, experts noted that PDI-P politicians remained largely silent.
Source: CNA
