Surya Paloh's Pedas Satire For The Coalition

Chairman of the Nasdem Party, Surya Paloh (Wardhany / VOI)

JAKARTA - The General Chairman of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh, was loud when he alluded to a party that felt the most Pancasila but did not want to embrace and even shake hands with their own friends. This Paloh satire was conveyed in front of his cadres at the opening ceremony of the NasDem Congress II at JIExpo, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta on Friday, November 8.

"Everything is full of suspicion, so we are further away from the value of Pancasila. Pancasila is a guide, a way of life. If it is a nationalist party, Pancasila, just prove it," said Surya, when thousands of cadres attended the event.

"The people need proof. Which party is carrying out the values of the Pancasila. If the party carries out cynicism, empty propaganda, it is definitely not the Pancasila party," he added.

Paloh continued to convey satire after satire. In fact, he quipped President Jokowi's statement who had questioned his warm embrace with the President of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Sohibul Iman. Even though he claims, his hug with Sohibul is just a form of friendship.

"This nation is tired of all the intrigues that invite cynicism from one another. The suspicions of one another. Until we visit friends it raises suspicion," he said.

After opening the congress, this media entrepreneur was reluctant to answer further who the Pancasila party he was insinuating.

With a broad smile, Paloh only said that anyone who violates all Pancasila norms is a party that is not Pancasila.

"Yes, we don't know who we are. [...] So if any of our parties get angry, well, he doesn't have much pancasila," he said at the time.

Ketum NasDem Surya Paloh (Wardhany / VOI)

Paloh's allusion to the PDI-P

Although Surya Paloh admitted that he did not insinuate anyone in his opening speech, Ujang Komaruddin, a Political Observer from the University of Al-Azhar Indonesia, said Paloh implicitly insinuated Megawati Soekarnoputri's party, PDI Perjuangan.

According to him, currently Paloh is disappointed and inflamed. Ultimately, the disappointment was conveyed in a speech in front of his cadres.

"Implicitly, Surya Paloh is teasing PDIP and Megawati," said Ujang when contacted by VOI via text message, Saturday, November 9.

Not only as a form of disappointment, Ujang also said, NasDem began to state its position which felt aggrieved when the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin's cabinet was drafted in the 2019-2024 period.

"NasDem feels aggrieved in many ways, especially the loss of the Attorney General from the NasDem cadre and taken over by the PDIP," he said.

It's no secret that Attorney General ST Burhanuddin is the younger brother of the PDIP politician, TB Hasanuddin. However, PDIP claimed that Burhanuddin was not elected because he was endorsed by his party but was directly elected by President Jokowi.

In fact, when Jokowi appointed the Attorney General, NasDem reportedly re-submitted the name M Prasetyo to take up the position. Prasetyo is a former NasDem cadre and served as a member of the Indonesian Parliament for the 2014-2019 period before becoming Attorney General.

Coming back to Paloh's speech, Ujang said that NasDem's losses were not only due to being stabbed in the position of Attorney General but also that this party was deemed to have received three ministerial seats which were not strategic.

In the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, there are three NasDem cadres who serve as ministers. They are the Secretary General of the NasDem Party Johnny G Plate who is the Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo), Siti Nurbaya Bakar who is the Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK), and Syahrul Yasin Limpo who is the Minister of Agriculture.

Apart from the question of losses, the entry of the Gerindra Party into Jokowi's coalition is also considered to have changed the coalition map. According to Ujang, this made NasDem uncomfortable.

"There is no smoke if there is no fire. There is no insinuation if there are no problems. So the real main problem of NasDem is with the PDIP," he said.

In the aftermath of this quip, it is certain that the Jokowi-Ma'ruf obesity coalition in the future will be unhealthy. Ujang even said, cold war could happen after this. However, whether this coalition breaks or does not depend on the political dynamics that occur in the future.

While Jokowi, who is acting as leader of the coalition, is considered by Ujang unable to do much. This is because Ujang suspects that the root cause of the problem that causes Paloh to often go on safari to parties outside the coalition cars is heartache.

"It is difficult for Jokowi to tidy up and consolidate his coalition again. This NasDem is hurt because the Attorney General, who was a NasDem cadre, was instead given by Jokowi to the PDIP," he concluded.