Wonder! Extraordinary Congress Faction Asked SBY And AHY: Democracy Or Tyranny?

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (Photo: Instagram @agusyudhoyono)

JAKARTA - The founder of the Democratic party who was also the initiator of the Deli Serdang Extraordinary Congress (KLB), HM Darmizal, questioned the meaning of democracy as meant by the Chair of the High Council of Democrat Party (PD), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

Because according to him, SBY and his eldest son who is also the chairman of the Democrat Party (PD), Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) have always promoted democracy but arbitrarily within his own party.

"What kind of democracy do these two children and father mean? Democracy in a Political Party is the sovereignty of members implemented through the highest forum for decision-making in a Political Party," Darmizal said in a press statement written on Monday, March 22.

As referred to in Article 15 paragraph (1) of the 2008 Political Party Law and Article 5 paragraph (1) of the 2011 Political Party Law, Darmizal explained, that the highest forum for decision making is regulated in the statutes/articles of association of Political Parties through the Congress or Extraordinary Congress.

"It is through this Congress that all the executive, legislative and judicial powers of the Political Parties are produced. This is the real democracy in the Political Parties," explained the senior Democrat politician.

Darmizal was surprised that the real democracy implemented in Extraordinary Congress (KLB) was actually being questioned by the sixth president of the Republic of Indonesia. "What kind of democracy is there in the Democrats or what SBY wants and is fighting for by PD-AHY through the statutes/articles of association of the Democratic Party in 2020?" Darmizal said.

According to him, the rules made in the 5th Congress that chose AHY as General Chairman actually denied SBY's own glorified democracy. The Democrat Party's statutes/articles of association which regulate the highest power are in the Congress/KLB.

However, this power is instead given to the Party High Council through its absolute authority to elect a General Chairman Candidate and determine all party policies (executive power), formulate and propose to stipulate statutes/articles of association (legislative power), and decide internal party disputes (judicial power).

"This is SBY-style democracy and is this what SBY wants to uphold? Or is this what the PD-AHY team wants to fight for?" he asked in surprise.

Therefore, Darmizal emphasized, political party democracy is in the highest decision-making forum in the Congress/Extraordinary Congress (KLB). Not in the hands of the Supreme Party Assembly, a nomenclature that is not recognized in the Political Party Law.

"If democracy is in the hands of the Upper Party Assembly, it will no longer be a democracy but tyranny or arbitrariness," he stressed.

"What AHY and SBY did seems to uphold democracy but turned out they hijack democracy. This is tantamount to the adage of upholding the law by breaking the law," Darmizal continued.

Darmizal added, in political theory and democracy, there are political tricks developed by democratic hijackers by always bringing up propaganda, pros and cons, obfuscation, scapegoats, playing victims, shifting issues, and double standards (logical fallacy) as if developing freedom and upholding democracy but instead instigating tyranny. This is done systemically from hard power, soft power to smart power.

"This is what happened in the Democratic crisis, and this is the first time this has happened in a party conflict in Indonesia, namely Democracy versus Tyranny," he said.