The Incident Of 27 July 1996: Kudatuli, The Dark History Of Democracy In This Republic

The riots in the 27 July 1996 incident, the seizure of the PDI Headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro 58 who came to be known as Kudatuli. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA – Kudatuli, which is an acronym for the Twenty-seven July Riots, is a democratic tragedy in Indonesia, the 27 July 1996 incident. Also known as the Gray Saturday incident, at that time there was a forcible takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) DPP Headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro 58 Central Jakarta.

The incident occurred as a result of divisions within the PDI camp, between supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri and Soerjadi. Megawati became General Chair of the PDI as a result of the 1993 Extraordinary Congress in Surabaya. Three years later, Soerjadi was elected as Chair of the PDI from the results of the Medan Congress which the Mega stronghold called illegitimate.

It was the dualism of leadership that sparked the riots. Soerjadi, who was supported by the New Order government, tried to seize the PDI headquarters. The raid on Megawati's stronghold who was standing on Jl. Diponegoro 58 was strongly suspected of being supported by military elements, especially from the Greater Jakarta Military Regional Command (Kodam Jaya) which was then led by Major General. Sutiyoso.

The riots in the 27 July 1996 incident or Kudatuli spread to the Jl. Salemba Raya. (Doc. Kompas/Clara Wresti)

The New Order government under President Suharto did not like Megawati's presence as the General Chair of the PDI. He did not approve when Bung Karno's daughter was elected as general chairman in the 1993 Surabaya Congress. Megawati was then blocked, the leadership that should have ended in 1998 was forcibly stopped through a bloody coup in 1996.

Starting with 16 PDI Functionaries

The dualism of the PDI leadership began with the intention of the 16 party functionaries bearing the bull's head in the pentagon, to separate themselves from Megawati's leadership. In order to smoothen their intentions, they held the Medan Congress in May 1996.

Megawati herself emerged as the General Chair of the PDI unexpectedly. At the PDI Congress in Medan 1993, the Soerjadi-Nico Daryanto duo who were re-elected tried to thwart the group led by Budi Hardjono, who was supported by the Suharto regime. In order to resolve the dispute, the PDI Extraordinary Congress was held in Surabaya in December 1993.

Unexpectedly, neither Soerjadi nor Budi were elected as general chairman, but Megawati. The extraordinary congress ended in a deadlock, but Megawati announced that she was de facto General Chair of the PDI.

Commemoration of the events of July 27, 1996. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)

The 16 mbalelo PDI functionaries were led by Fatimah Ahmad. The DPR RI member from the PDI faction led the plan to implement the 1996 Medan KLB. Megawati's camp reacted, and the 16 mbalelo functionaries were dismissed from party membership.

On June 19, 1996 Decree number 01-KU/KPTS/VI/1996 signed by Megawati Soekarnoputri, regarding the dismissal of the 16 PDI functionaries was issued. They are considered to have committed organizational violations, namely unilaterally holding a congress which violated the PDI's Articles of Association and Bylaws.

"That as a result of the actions carried out by the PDI DPP functionaries, in fact, it has led to intrigue, accusations, and slander as well as manipulation and abuse of authority that could harm the party," Megawati said in her statement, quoted by Kompas on June 20, 1996.

Soerjadi, Chairman of the PDI who is at odds with Megawati Soekarnoputri. (Wikiwand)

Yet the defections continued, and the 1996 Medan Congress was still held. The indication that the event was supported by the New Order Regime was very strong, because the opening and closing of the congress which was held from June 20-22 was carried out by the then Minister of Home Affairs, Yogie S. Memed.

The congress resulted in the appointment of Deputy Chairperson of the MPR/DPR Soerjadi as General Chairperson of the PDI, and Buttu Reinhart Hutapea as Secretary General of the PDI. Through the ABRI Chief of Social and Political Staff, Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, the government of the Suharto regime, emphasized that it did not recognize Megawati's PDI DPP but Soerjadi's version of the PDI DPP.

Megawati's stronghold against

The decision of the Indonesian government under President Soeharto was opposed by Megawati's camp. The free pulpit is held continuously in front of the PDI Headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro 58. Until finally the Kapolda Metro Jaya, Major General (Pol). Hamami Nata took the initiative to disband it, because it was considered disturbing the order.

The warning letter from the Police addressed to Megawati as the person in charge of the free pulpit was ignored. The free pulpit activity continued, and Megawati sent a letter of response stating that there was no compelling reason to stop the free pulpit being held inside the PDI Headquarters.

Megawati Soekarnoputri. (Between)

Efforts to resolve the dualism of leadership within the PDI remained unresolved. The letter of reprimand was answered with refusal, the lawsuit through legal channels was answered with refusal. There was no common ground, until finally the incident occurred on July 27, 1996.

Quoted from Kompas, the material loss due to the 27 July 1996 incident was estimated at Rp100 billion. Five people died, 23 people were missing indefinitely, and 149 people were injured. Ironically, the Kudatuli tragedy that injured democracy in this republic has not been resolved until now. Even when Megawati Soekarnoputri was already President of the Republic of Indonesia.