Momentum Budiman Sudjatmiko Becomes General Chair Of PRD At The Age Of 26

Budiman Sudjatmiko, who was once the General Chair of PRD at a young age, 26 years old. (ISTIMEWA)

JAKARTA - No one has the courage to openly oppose the Soeharto and the New Order (Orba) governments. Whoever dares to fight, his life will be complicated in every way. This narrative made Budiman Sudjatmiko plant the seeds of resistance against the New Order.

Suharto and New Order are considered to have been drunk with power. Budiman and his friends agreed to form a medium of resistance. Democratic People's Party (PRD), his name. Budiman was also asked to be the General Chair of PRD. At that time he was quite young, still 26 years old.

Each person has his own life experience under the control of Suharto and New Order. Budiman was like that. He had seen from a young age that the New Order government was so strong with its political vehicles Golkar and the military.

Budiman saw for himself how difficult it was to live in the New Order era. Injustice is everywhere. The achievements of the New Order government in self-sufficiency in rice and development are not considered. This is because the poverty and injustice rates are still evident in the surrounding environment.

Budiman saw for himself that his grandfather, who worked as a village bureaucrat, was forced by the government to vote in support of Golkar in the 1977 elections. The inauguration of the New Order is clearly visible. Those who do not want to follow the will of the government, will certainly be labeled as sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Budiman also tried to change things. He took advantage of education to deepen his sensitivity to the fate of the poor. Budiman seemed to donate his life on the path of resistance by becoming a student activist.

He tried to criticize all kinds of New Order policies that harm the people. Mainly, the case of the construction of the Kedung Ombo Reservoir. Later he and his friends began to develop new political tools: Democratic People's Association.

The movement was finally formulated further by becoming a party. PRD, his name. The party appeared in Yogyakarta on April 15, 1996. Budiman was then elected as the general chairman of PRD even though he was still 26 years old.

"This is not just an organizational leadership mandate. For me (and also realized by my colleagues at PRD) this is a mandate for the leadership of ideas to change Indonesia in a revolutionary way. I do not forget that by becoming the General Chair of PRD at the age of twenty-six years, I have chosen the crown of thorn which we know as 3B (bui, throw away, kill) to pair it to my head. Not only me, but also all the PRD central administrators who were confirmed at that time, "said Budiman in the book of the Revolutionary Children Volume I(2013).

Budiman brought PRD as a party that strongly demands the presence of democracy in Indonesia. He tried to bring PRD to be a forum for students, laborers, and farmers to voice his wishes to the government.

PRD wants ABRI's dyafunction to be revoked. They think that dyfunction is the estuary of the failure of the New Order era government. PRD has also begun to be active in the circle of mass action. They also showed their defense of Megawati Soekarnoputri who was wronged by the New Order.

The government is considered PRD does not want Bung Karno's son to lead the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). All kinds of breakthroughs were made by the government. A counter congress was also created. This condition made Budiman bring PRD to fully support Megawati.

At its peak, many PRD activists filled the event on the free pulpit at the PDI head office in Menteng. Anyone was given room to speak up in a large pulpit, from speeches to singing. However, that condition turned into a grip on July 27, 1996.

The government is considered to have deliberately tried to pit the PDI for the Suryadi camp and Megawati's camp. The Suryadi camp, which was also supported by the military, tried to attack the PDI headquarters which was inhabited by activists. Clashes ensued. The incident became known as the July 27 Riot (Kudatuli).

The government also took advantage of the momentum by arresting PRD activists, especially Budiman. PRD activists are considered the masterminds of Kudatuli. Budiman, who at that time as chairman of PRD, felt for himself the impact of his struggle: prison.

Prison is hard. However, the detention made Budiman's name famous throughout the country. Many try to predict him as a young leader of Indonesia in the future. The image is trying to be suppressed again by the New Order.

The government then accused PRD of having communist ideology. In fact, Budiman's parents were also considered communist militants. Even so, then the allegations were not proven and Suharto and the New Order stepped down two years later in 1998.

When the government and several mass media linked the Democratic People's Party (PRD) to communism, Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, at that time the ABRI's Political Social Chief of Staff, even slandered Budiman Sudjatmiko's father, PRD chairman, as a 'exchange of the PKI, although it was later proven that this family was a devout Muslim family,' said writer Goenawan Mohamad in his article in Tempo magazine entitled Desus (1998).