Megawati: "I heard someone wants to take over [the PDI-P]. Oh no, that’s crazy! [the person] has no integrity.”
JAKARTA: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri says she never intended to stay in power indefinitely and is thinking of retiring from the party.
She said that when party secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto asked her to lead the party again, she was reluctant to accept, given that she is 77 years old, an age when most people are supposed to be retired.
“I said to [Hasto]: ‘Let me think about it. I also want to spend more time with my family’”, she said on Wednesday (Aug 14) during a gathering in which the party announced the regional head candidates that it is supporting in the November regional head elections.
“But then I heard someone wants to take over [the PDI-P]. Oh no, that’s crazy! [the person] has no integrity,” she continued.
Megawati did not specify who the person was or when the conversation with Hasto took place. But observers have speculated that she was referring to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who is currently at the centre of a controversy regarding the sudden resignation of Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto.
As the President is stepping down in October, many analysts believe that Airlangga’s resignation was related to Jokowi’s pursuit of a political vehicle to continue his career after his term ends.
Jokowi, who parted ways with the PDI-P after supporting a rival presidential ticket in February’s general election, currently has no political party, which amounts to a dead end for any politician in Indonesia.
There are rumours that he will conduct a cabinet reshuffle in the coming weeks to secure control over Golkar and field his second son Kaesang Pangarep as a regional head candidate. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
