Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati

PDI-P Considers Creating Post of Deputy Leader

A potential role for a deputy leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle will be a primary issue during key deliberations ahead of the party’s national congress in April, the chairman of the People’s Consultative Council said on Monday.

Taufik Kiemas, husband of party chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri, said the party was looking at creating the post of deputy chairman not only to fulfill the aspirations of youth leaders but to assist the leader.

Taufik said he would most likely endorse his daughter, Puan Maharani, to occupy the position of deputy chairwoman, and expressed confidence that former President Megawati would be re-elected chairwoman during the April congress.

“Members of the young generation should fill the position of deputy. If [a young cadre] occupies the seat [of party leader] directly, it will prove to be difficult,” Taufik said, adding that Puan could become a strong candidate to occupy the position of deputy as long as she is endorsed by the party’s regional branches.

The majority of branches nationwide have repeatedly expressed the critical need for “regeneration” in party leadership, considering that Megawati, 68, has been elected chairwoman three times. She has led the party, also known as PDI-P, since her election in 1993 after a New Order government-sponsored conflict within the Indonesian Democratic Party, or PDI.

The resulting splinter group was named PDI Pro-Mega before being renamed PDI-P.

The party has yet to find a suitable cadre to replace Megawati, who, as daughter of charismatic founding President Sukarno, has so far managed to maintain party solidarity.

Analysts earlier noted that the party desperately needed a new leader to compete in the 2014 presidential election, considering that Megawati lost twice to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in 2004 and 2009.

Guruh Sukarnoputra, Megawati’s younger brother, recently declared that he was not one to back down from a race to assume the chairmanship, adding that he was not sure millions of Indonesians would once again vote a woman as head of state.

On Monday, Guruh said he would push forward his plans to challenge Megawati during the national congress.

“I will go on, even if there is only one branch that supports me,” Guruh said.

Guruh criticized the PDI-P’s central board for issuing an official memo directing lower party branches to support Megawati as the sole candidate to lead the party.

Taufik said a candidate must obtain support from 3,600 of the 7,000 branches at the subdistrict level as well as from 33 provincial branches and 512 regional branches to win.

Guruh said his sister “has said she is tired. So many want change.”

He suggested there was a kind of “autocratic rule” by the elite within the PDI-P, much like the days of former president Suharto and his Golkar Party.

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