Indonesia’s ruling PDI-P could take on opposition role in Prabowo’s government as it ‘keeps options open’

The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has signalled it could take on an opposition role when president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s government takes power in October, but the party is taking a wait-and-see approach to “keep its options open”, analysts say.

All eyes were on PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri this past weekend as her party held its annual leadership meeting, where she was widely expected to announce her stance towards Prabowo.

However, the influential chairwoman – a former president herself – appears to want to hold her cards close to her chest for the time being, refraining from declaring her party’s position.

But her speech – in which she strongly criticised the administration of outgoing President Joko Widodo and the lack of democratic safeguards during February’s presidential election – indicated that the PDI-P could take on an opposition role.

Megawati claimed that there was “widespread, systematic and structured” fraud which tarnished the election, mirroring the views of Prabowo’s opponents and pro-democracy activists in the country.

“I’m saddened because I was president when the country’s first direct election took place. It was responsible and successful. Why is it that the election has now become grey and has been engineered?” Megawati said during her opening speech on Friday.

The PDI-P was the biggest victor of February’s legislative election, with 16.72 per cent of the vote and winning 110 out of 580 seats in the House of Representatives.

However, its presidential candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, suffered a harsh defeat, finishing with the fewest votes of the three contenders.

Ganjar’s loss has been largely attributed to a lack of support from incumbent Widodo, who had been a member of