The Silent Congress and the Shadow of Efforts to Thwart Megawati

The atmosphere of a hotel restaurant felt quiet on Friday (1/8/2025) morning, around 08:30. Despite this, dozens of people had gathered, wearing the distinctive red attire of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. They spoke softly to one another, reminding each other not to forget to bring their respective party membership cards. Additionally, they were also prohibited from bringing mobile phones.

Around their necks hang special congress identification cards, inscribed with "VI PDI-P Congress" along with their names and hometowns. They are the delegates who hold voting rights in the congress, consisting of the chairperson, secretary, and treasurer of the regional leadership council (provincial level) as well as the branch leadership council (district and city).

An aide approached one of the DPC leaders, informing that the bus to transport the participants to the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center was ready. The location is approximately 2.5 kilometers from the hotel. At the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, the participants will attend the congress.

The leadership of the DPC was surprised because the congress was not held at the Grand Inna Bali Beach, Denpasar, which has been the venue for the technical guidance (bimtek) of the PDI-P faction members of the DPR as well as the provincial and district/city DPRD, held since Wednesday (30/7/2025). Moreover, the Grand Inna Bali Beach has always been the location for the congress of the party symbolized by the white-nosed bull.

The Chairman of the DPC PDI-P of Singkawang City (West Kalimantan), Sujianto, was also taken aback. This is because the news of the congress being held was only received the night before. The invitation he received as the Chairman of the Singkawang Regional House of Representatives only contained information about a technical guidance agenda, followed by a national consolidation.

"That wasn't congress language, no. It was consolidation language. I even got a tip from another party that the PDI-P would be holding a congress. I actually found out from another party," he said when met by Kompas after the congress.

There were no billboards, banners, or party flags, and there were no crowds that usually accompany major PDI-P events.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, where the congress was held, Sujianto and his colleagues were both confused and amazed. There were no billboards, banners, or party flags. There was also no crowd of supporters that usually accompanies major events of the PDI-P. Only a number of pecalang and PDI-P task forces were stationed securely at the entrance.

They entered in an orderly manner, through the interior of the building where each door was tightly guarded by security personnel. The atmosphere was completely sterile. Layered security posts were visible from the entrance gate. All hotel staff wore identification badges, as did the security personnel.

Every door leading to the congress room is guarded by at least four to five individuals. Each guest is stopped, questioned about their purpose, and only those with party membership cards and congress identification cards are permitted to enter. The rest are asked to leave.

"I have participated in five previous congresses, and this atmosphere is extraordinary for me. The strategy of PDI-P is remarkable, organizing a silent yet successful congress so quickly and unexpectedly. There was no mobilization of the masses, no attributes or billboards. The discipline is commendable," said Sujianto.

The VI Congress of PDI-P has been postponed multiple times since it was last held in 2019 in Bali. In the organizational cycle, party congresses are typically held once every five years, meaning that PDI-P should have conducted its congress in 2024.

However, the party symbolized by the white-nosed bull has postponed its sixth congress due to various factors. One of them overlaps with the agenda of the 2024 General Election and the simultaneous 2024 Regional Election. The PDI-P has rescheduled the congress for April 2025, but when the time comes, the congress has yet to be held.

The term of the DPP PDI-P management structure, which was supposed to end in 2024, has been extended until 2025. Several PDI-P elites have repeatedly stated that the sixth congress will definitely be held this year.

After a long silence, suddenly all members of the DPR and DPRD were invited to Bali for training from July 29 to August 3, 2025. Within a matter of days, this largest national consolidation unexpectedly transformed into a congress held on Friday and Saturday (August 1-2, 2025) yesterday.

The Chairman of the DPP PDI-P, Komarudin Watubun, revealed that the preparations for the congress lasted only about one month with a very limited team. This team consisted of the DPP management that had just been declared resigned, assisted by a regional team led by Bali Governor I Wayan Koster.

PDI-P DPP Chairman Komarudin Watubun revealed that preparations for the congress only lasted about a month with a very limited team.

The atmosphere of this congress is also different. There are no seas of flags, billboards, or banners as seen in previous events. Komarudin stated that this was entirely the idea of Megawati's son, who also serves as the Chairman of the DPP PDI-P, Prananda Prabowo.

"This is 100 percent the idea of Mas Nanan (Prananda Prabowo). He believes that this congress should be different. Different in the sense that, especially in Bali, which is a tourist city, we are trying to highlight the cultural aspect. Therefore, the flags, billboards, and banners along the road have been reduced. Furthermore, in the future, the consolidation of PDI-P will emphasize the cultural aspect as a manifestation of Trisakti, particularly regarding personality in the field of culture," he stated.

The selection of Nusa Dua as the location for the congress also took into account security aspects and the current national political conditions. "And why did we choose this place? This place is safer. There are also those who ask why the congress is somewhat closed. As you all know, Mother (Megawati) has always mentioned that there are those who want to disrupt the party and so on. As a party, we certainly anticipate this because not everyone likes us," Komarudin stated.

Previously, Megawati admitted to receiving reports that there were parties seeking to disrupt or "disrupt" the PDI-P. These parties reportedly did not want Megawati to return as chairman, claiming she had failed to lead the PDI-P. Megawati made this statement during her keynote speech, "Book Launch and Discussion: The 2024 Presidential Election Between Law, Ethics, and Psychological Considerations," in Jakarta on December 12, 2024.

Komarudin does not deny the indications of attempts to block Megawati from being re-elected. One of the signals is evident from several attempts by certain parties to challenge the decision letter regarding the extension of the DPP PDI-P management period 2019–2024 at the Jakarta Administrative Court.

"So, there are indications of that. And, besides the indications, you know, he-he-he," said Komarudin, reluctant to continue his statement.

Contrary to concerns, all voting rights holders reaffirmed Megawati as the general chairperson at the sixth congress of PDI-P held in Nusa Dua. Komarudin stated that the process was brief as it merely involved ratifying the results of the PDI-P National Working Meeting V 2024, which had requested Megawati to lead the party once again.

"Therefore, at the opening of the first session, 100 percent of the participants requested and urged for Mother (Megawati) to be reinstated immediately. Hence, it did not take long. The children stood up immediately, shouting, 'Mega... Mega!'. In fact, the agenda had not even been read yet, and they were already shouting, 'Inaugurate... Inaugurate!'. It was exactly the same as the euphoria of the people towards Mother in 1989, in Bali as well, during her speech. The crowd was precisely like that," said Komarudin.

Mrs. (Megawati) asked more than three times, and she even cried during the congress. She also cried during the technical guidance because everyone was pointing at her again as chairman.

According to information gathered by Kompas, Megawati repeatedly questioned the congress participants' seriousness in re-electing her as chairperson. She reportedly cried during the congress and during the technical guidance after hearing that all participants wanted her to lead again. Megawati also asked cadres not to be afraid if there were parties who disagreed with her returning to leadership.

Lasarus, Chair of the PDI-P's 6th Congress Commission Session, confirmed the incident. "Perhaps the disagreement was due to age. Or it could also be that another group has entered. It's a catchphrase, right? But we were asked repeatedly before the ratification. Megawati asked more than three times, and she even cried during the congress. She also cried during the technical guidance because everyone was pointing at her to become chairman, and she was speechless," he said.

A senior researcher from the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Lili Romli, assessed that there are indications of intervention or external parties attempting to disrupt the PDI-P, as evidenced by the repeated postponements of the congress schedule until it finally took place on August 1. The sixth congress of the party was held not in the usual open and widely publicized manner, but rather quietly, even wrapped in training activities for members of the DPR and DPRD.

"Therefore, the congress is indeed intended to focus on internal consolidation. The congress is held quietly without notification to the cadres in order to guard against indications of disturbances from external parties, one of which is the attempt to unseat Megawati from the position of chairperson," he stated.

He suspects that there are parties who wish to unseat Megawati from her position as chairperson for several reasons. Under her leadership, PDI-P has not only succeeded in building solidarity and fanaticism among its cadres but has also won elections multiple times, becoming a major party.

In addition, despite criticism regarding the centralization of leadership, Megawati is considered to remain committed to upholding democracy and the constitution. "In order to maintain this, the allure and temptation of power do not make her forget to continue safeguarding democracy and the constitution," said Lili.

Therefore, he continued, it is not surprising that the moment of togetherness of the Megawati family was showcased during the training and congress. Just before entering the training room on Wednesday (30/7/2025), Prananda Prabowo and Puan Maharani walked side by side with their mother towards the main arena. Prananda and Puan appeared to engage in light conversation while embracing each other, with Puan holding Megawati's hand tightly. This warmth was evident until the conclusion of the congress.

This momentum, according to Lili, demonstrates the solidarity at the top leadership of PDI-P. All cadres are also inspired by this momentum. This solidarity becomes an important asset if PDI-P wishes to continue to maintain itself as a strong party in the future, not easily swayed by any issues. Because everything begins with internal solidarity.