Puan's Speech On The State Of Konoha To Dark Indonesia Is Considered A Wake Up Call For The Government

The chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan, gave a speech at the Plenary Session of the Opening of the First Session Period of 2025'2026 at the Parliament Building, Jakarta, Friday (15/8/2025).

Political communication observer from The London School of Public Relations (LSPR Institute of Communication Business), Ari Junaedi hopes that the speech of the Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, regarding the creative criticism phenomenon delivered at the Joint Session of the DPR-DPD RI a few days ago, can open the government's view.

Especially those that allude to criticism from the public must be responded to wisely by the Government. One of them is about raising the 'One Piece' flag ahead of the 80th Indonesian Independence Day which had gone viral on social media.

According to Ari, Puan's statement asking that the phenomenon be responded to wisely was very to the point. Because Ari considered that the fear of the apparatus was quite excessive towards the way of today's youth resistance, such as the raising and painting of the One Piece mural.

"What is being voiced by the legislature, in this case by the Chairman of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, so that the Government understands the expressions of young people in expressing protests," said Ari Junaedi, Wednesday, August 20.

"The term 'Konoha Country', 'Escape Aja', and 'Illegal Indonesia' which are well understood by Puan should be able to be addressed by the authorities without violence," he continued.

Ari said the government should not be reactive in responding to creative criticism from the public. If the government still prioritizes repressive measures, said Ari, the government will fail to capture the growing unrest among young people.

"But it was successfully understood only by the people's representatives," added the Director of the Nusakom Pratama Political Studies Institute.

Ari also encouraged the DPR to continue to remind, supervise and give a strong warning if there were still repressive actions from the authorities in responding to the aspirations expressed by the people as did Puan Maharani.

In fact, according to Ari, the demonstration incident in Pati, Central Java, in the aftermath of the arrogance of regional heads, can only be understood by the council as representatives of the people.

"With the statement of the Speaker of the House of Representatives as a representation of the connection between the aspirations of the people, the Government should start to change the paradigm of protest actions launched by the public, especially young people," said Ari.

Ari emphasized that the Government should not only hear beautiful reports that were engineered and denied the survey figures, but must be able to respond to public unrest in a clear and open way.

"The government should want to hear the reality that is happening in the field, if poverty and unemployment are now increasingly booming and different from the figures that are 'pleasant' from BPS," said Ari.

Ari hopes that the government's view under the command of President Prabowo can be open, and Puan's speech can also be a warning that the public's unrest conveyed through symbols and terms hold many hopes so that the government can turn Indonesia bright.

"Hopefully the Government will always have an open view of it. All the voices of the people that we hear are not just words or pictures. Behind every word there is a message. Behind every message there is unrest. And behind that unrest there is hope," he explained.

"And fortunately, the sentence of rebuttal from the Speaker of the DPR could be the climax of the MPR Annual Session event ahead of the Proclamation commemoration in the midst of public disappointment, at a time when there were still many people who were difficult because they lost their jobs or had difficulty finding work right now," concluded Ari Junaedi.

As is known, in her speech at the DPR-DPD RI Joint Session on Friday, August 15, Puan said that Indonesian democracy provides the widest possible space for the public to speak and express criticism. Puan also gave an example of various forms of public expression that went viral in the digital space, ranging from short sentences to pop culture symbols.

This phenomenon, according to Puan, shows that people's aspirations and unrest are now conveyed in the language of their own era which must be understood wisely by the government. Such as the expression in the form of short words JUST go away first', sharp satire Ilang Indonesia'c political jokes Konoha state, to new symbols such as One Piece flag.