Puan Maharani's Bundo Traditional Clothing And Traces Of The PDI-P Polemic In West Sumatra

Mrs. Maharani/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Deputy Governor of West Sumatra, Audy Joinaldy, said that the Minangkabau community was proud because the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, wore the traditional Bundo Kanduang dress from Lintau, Tanah Datar, West Sumatra.

Puan Maharani wears the Bundo Kanduang dress while attending the Commemoration Ceremony of the Proclamation of Independence of the 76th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace, Tuesday. In that event, the grandson of the proclaimer Bung Karno was asked to read the text of the Proclamation.

"We see that we are also proud as Minangkabau people. That the people of West Sumatra saw the Chairman of the DPR RI wearing Minangkau clothes in a very big ceremony, the ceremony of the Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia," Audy said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, August 17.

Audy expressed her pride in Puan's choice to wear Minang traditional clothes. According to him, Puan looks elegant in this dress.

"We think it was his own choice to wear Minangkabau clothes," said Audy.

According to Audy, Puan does have Minang blood because Puan's grandmother from her father, Taufiq Kiemas, is a native of Tanah Datar, West Sumatra.

"Of course we are proud because Minangkabau are matriarchal, descended from women. Because Mr. Taufiq Kiemas' mother is Minang, it means that Mrs. Puan is of Minangkabau descent," he said.

At the proclamation of independence ceremony at the Merdeka Palace, Puan wore a cream, red, and gold Bundo Kanduang dress. Traditional clothing, which is also known as Limpapeh Rumah Nan Gadang, is a dress commonly worn by Minang women in West Sumatra.

Usually, this traditional dress is worn by a woman who has grown or is married. Bundo Kanduang clothing is equipped with Tingkuluak Balenggek, a headgear from Lintau, Tanah Datar.

By Minang women, Bundo Kanduang clothing is usually worn at traditional events such as weddings, appointment of datuak, and others. The meaning of this dress is a symbol of the importance of the role of a mother in a family.

"This independent country must not only be politically sovereign and economically independent, but also have a personality in its culture," said Puan previously quoting Trisakti Bung Karno.

Traces of the PDIP Polemic in the Minang Realm

Back to the back when the 'heat' of the 2020 simultaneous regional elections, the Chairperson of the PDI-P Megawati Soekaranoputri admitted that she was confused by the attitude of the West Sumatran people who seemed unable to accept their party. In fact, he said, the first President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno was close to the nationalist figure from the Minang land.

In addition, Mega also admits that it is difficult to get people in the region to choose regional heads from their parties.

"When I look at West Sumatra, I think, why do the people of West Sumatra don't seem to like the PDI-P? Even though there are several regions that want to ask for it, they have already said their DPC office, their DPD. But if you are looking for leaders in the regions In my opinion, it will still be a bit difficult," Mega said while giving a virtual briefing for the newly announced regional head candidates, Wednesday, September 2.

"In fact, if we remember the history of the nation, many people from the West Sumatran circle became nationalists. At that time, Bung Karno collaborated with Bung Hatta. Bung Hatta actually came from West Sumatra," he added.

Seeing the difficulty of getting attention from the people of West Sumatra, he then ordered his cadres to study why there are still areas that have not accepted and believed in him.

"That is one part of our hard work, our great work," he said.

At that time, Puan Maharani was in the spotlight. Puan's statement, which led to a polemic, was delivered on Wednesday, September 2, when she read out recommendations from PDIP to candidates for regional heads. After announcing recommendations for support for the Mulyadi-Ali Mukhni pair, the daughter of PDIP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri hopes that West Sumatra can become a province that supports Pancasila.

"Hopefully West Sumatra can become a province that supports the Pancasila state," said Puan at the time.

Soon, this statement became a polemic and led to the return of the PDIP recommendation by Mulyadi-Ali Mukhni and this was confirmed by the Secretary General of PDIP Hasto Kristiyanto.

"The PDI-P expresses its gratitude to Mulyadi. From the start I suspected that Mulyadi was not strong in his attitude as a leader, so he was easily swayed in ideological dialectics," he said in a written statement, Sunday, September 6.

Furthermore, after the return of this recommendation, West Sumatra PDIP DPD Chairman Alex Indra Lukman stated that the results of an internal meeting decided that PDIP would not participate in the West Sumatra gubernatorial election.