The Origin Of PDI-P Is Called The Little Wong's Party

Chairperson of the PDIP, Megawati Soekarnoputri during a speech with the background of a painting of her father, Soekarno, the originator of Marhaenism who became an understanding of the defense of the underprivileged or the common people. (Between)

JAKARTA - Soekarno once lived close to poverty. He often observes and feels poverty. From childhood to adulthood. Poverty is the fuel to fight against the invaders. The ideology of marhaenism was also initiated. This understanding has been passed down from generation to generation by the Soekarno breed. Her second child, Megawati, has even polished marhaenism as a tool for her party's struggle: the PDI-P or PDI-P. Because of this, the party bearing the white muzzle is known as the little wong party.

Soekarno is a figure who is never far from poverty. He was raised by his parents in the midst of poverty. Every day, he saw the natives struggling with poverty. From farmers to carpenters. Meanwhile, the Dutch who are immigrants in their country can live richly. Bathed in treasure.

He is also a witness that poverty has become the estuary of all sorrows. Even death. This series of events made Bung Karno feel sensitive. Bung Karno then actively looked for ways to change the fate of his people.

PDIP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri when she was sworn in as President of the Republic of Indonesia on July 23, 2001. (Wikimedia Commons)

As a lesson, Bung Karno often observed the condition of his people. The habit of making observations continued until Soekarno studied in Bandung. In his spare time, he chooses to ride a bicycle around. This activity brought Bung Karno together with all walks of life. Farmers are one of them. His encounters with the small people led to stories about the pain of being colonized by the Dutch.

At its peak, Soekarno met a small farmer named Marhaen. His encounter became an important momentum for the emergence of Marhaenism. An understanding which is then used as a tool to defend the fate of small farmers, factory workers, and anyone who does not have the means of production.

“At that moment a ray of inspiration flooded my brain. I will use that name to name all Indonesians with such misfortune! Since then I have called my people the people of Marhaen. Later that day I rowed my bicycle around cultivating my new understanding. I streamlined it. I prepared my words carefully. And that night I gave indoctrination about it to my youth group. Our farmers cultivate a very small plot of land.”

Megawati Soekarnoputri with her father, Soekarno. (Wikimedia Commons)

“They were victims of the feudal system, where at first the first peasant was exploited by the first noble and passed on to his descendants for centuries. People who were not peasants also became victims of Dutch trade imperialism, because their ancestors had been forced to only engage in small businesses to prolong their lives. The people who are victims of this, which includes almost the entire population of Indonesia, are Marhaen," said Soekarno as written by Cindy Adams in Bung Karno's book: Connecting the Tongue of the Indonesian People (1965).

Resistance to the New Order

Soekarno's sensitivity to the fate of his people was able to make Indonesia independent. Indonesia's independence then perpetuates widely known Marhaenism. Even when Soekarno died, Marhaenism was still famous.

Marhaenism was passed down from generation to generation by the Soekarno breed. Her second child, Dyah Permata Megawati Setyawati Soekarnoputri, also practiced Marhaenism. Mainly to fight injustice. The woman who is familiarly called Megawati used Marhaenism as a weapon against the repressive New Order (Orba).

He used Marhaenism as his political vehicle, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), then the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, abbreviated as PDIP, as a tool. Therefore, Megawati became a symbol of a leader who dared to stand with the people against the New Order. Even so, he has been affected by the unfair treatment by the authorities since he became active in politics in 1987.

A pedicab driver passes posters of Megawati Soekarnoputri and Soekarno during the PDIP V Congress in Denpasar, Bali on August 8-11, 2019. (Antara/Nyoman Hendra Wibowo)

Megawati's courage to enter politics angered the New Order. After all, the New Order was reducing Soekarno's role and influence in the nation's history. As a result, his party, PDIP, became a symbol of the resistance of the oppressed.

The gait was for the little people who in fact the little people sympathized with him. Slowly, people began to call Megawati's PDIP the underdog party.

“Political expert Cornelis Lay translated Bung Karno's ideology of marhaenism for PDIP. When parties and officials in general position themselves as Santa Claus who is ready to distribute materials and projects to help the poor, and still enforce dynastic politics and elite hegemony, PDI-P has actually led to political action in which even small people are proposed to be state administrators/candidates/ cabup/cawabup/cawal/cawawal/etc.”

“Finally, small people can become public officials through PDIP, for example Jokowi. There are traders who can become DPR, there are parking attendants who can become regional heads, etc. It's a new tradition started by PDIP. The tradition was imitated by all political parties. In the end, the face (dynasty) who relied on the names of their parents and descendants fell at the polling station. New names from small people have actually emerged as public officials," said Anthony Tonggo in the book Inspirational Figures from NTT (2021).