Puan In Front Of Prabowo And Jokowi: Elections Are Often Affected By Intervention

Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives Puan Maharani with President Prabowo Subianto at the DPD House of Representatives Joint Session at Senayan Complex, Jakarta, Friday 15 August 2025 (doc Setneg)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, criticized the democratic system and general elections (elections) in Indonesia. According to him, the current elections are often influenced by the interference of interested parties.

This was said by Puan in a speech on the Joint Session of the DPR-DPD RI at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Friday, August 15. This session is a series of Annual Sessions attended by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Also present was the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). PPP

"Currently, democracy in our election, apart from being determined by the lines of hand, is also often influenced by interference and handicraft. We all have lines, fate and opportunities given by Allah SWT, God Almighty," said Puan.

"But not all of us have the same ability to intervene and give gifts in determining the direction of democracy," he continued.

Puan assessed that this broken system was both critical and autocritical of democracy in the Indonesian elections that had gone out of line. Because he said, the democracy that was aspired to was not a democracy of interference and intervention, but a democracy that provides equal opportunities for all citizens.

"Let us build a democracy that brings people hope to life. Democracy does not stop in ballot booths, but continues to grow in dialogue spaces, in people's kitchens, at village halls, to the parliament building, so that every decision is born out of shared awareness, not just an agreement of a handful of elites," said Puan.

In a democracy, added Puan, the people must have ample space to associate, gather, express their critical opinion.

"Now, criticism from the people is present in various creative forms and takes advantage of technological advances, especially social media, as the mouthpiece of public voices," he concluded.