TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PDIP Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto explains the right of inquiry into alleged fraud in the 2024 General Elections and PDI-P’s chance to become the opposition party.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) proposes that the House of Representatives (DPR) exercise its right of inquiry to investigate alleged fraudulent practices in the 2024 General Elections. The party, with a logo of a white-snouted bull, asserted that there had been massive election fraud.

PDI-P Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto claimed they had gathered a mountain of evidence and said the right of inquiry initiative was one way to unravel the fraud. The other strategy is to file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court. “We need to make corrections,” he said.

Among the evidence of fraud held by Hasto is related to practices of money politics and intimidation by state institutions three days before the voting on February 14. The deluge of social aid packages also negatively impacted the PDI-P-backed Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md. pair, who, as a result, received fewer votes. They lost to Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka on its own turf in the PDI-P strongholds like Central Java and Bali.

Pending the 2024 election results, which will almost certainly place Ganjar-Mahfud in third place, Hasto does not want to speculate about the political direction the PDI-P will be taking. He said the party had been offered to join Prabowo’s coalition but did not rule out the possibility that the PDI-P would be in opposition. “From our experience, staying outside the government is patriotic,” he said.

Hasto sat down with Tempo for a special interview at his private office in Central Jakarta on March 1. During the one-hour-long conversation, he talked about possible cooperation with the parties that nominated Anies Baswedan to initiate the inquiry right and about the relationship between the PDI-P and President Joko Widodo.

On Friday, March 8, or three days after the plenary meeting at the DPR, which was marked by interruptions regarding the proposal for the inquiry right, Hasto sent additional responses via WhatsApp about the absence of DPR Speaker Puan Maharani at the session and Ganjar’s status at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Excerpts of the interview:

What is PDI-P’s goal in initiating an inquiry into election fraud?

We see it as an option. The other option is to file a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court. The right of inquiry is aimed at investigating important and strategic issues. The policies that allegedly violated the law and their impact on the nation and the people. We need to make corrections.

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Corrections of what?

In the legislative election, there's a perception that going to the field is pointless if later defeated by money politics occurring two to three days before the voting day. There's also intimidation and the distribution of social assistance leading up to the general election. We are concerned about changes in these democratic norms.

Is the PDI-P solid to support the right of inquiry?

We are solid. We don’t believe political rumors claiming that we are not solid. We have one command.

The absence of DPR Speaker Puan Maharani at the plenary meeting led to a perception that the PDI-P is not solid in pushing for the right of inquiry…

Mbak Puan was on official state duty to attend an international conference.

We heard there are efforts to block all initiatives questioning election fraud. Is that true?

The process is still ongoing. We did hear that die-hard supporters who previously declared to be witnesses received a myriad of pressures. Currently, there are two special operations to foil the right of inquiry initiative and the legal process at the Constitutional Court.

How will the PDI-P mitigate these operations?

The PDI-P has a lot of militant witnesses. They have experienced and felt this kind of situation before. The special operation in Central Java was extraordinary. Village chiefs were gathered, and those who supported according to the order received Rp200 million (around US$12,800). I got information that one even received more than one billion rupiah (US$64,000) because he was asked to work with a given target.

Does President Joko Widodo play a role in preventing the right of inquiry?

Where did that information come from? If it came from people around President Jokowi, the right of inquiry perhaps is frightening. But if they behave properly, they have nothing to fear.

We heard that the Palace is monitoring the political process through the right of inquiry, which could lead to impeachment.

We abide by the constitution. Bung Karno didn’t fight back when the 1965 incident happened although he had the extraordinary support of the people. He learned from the experience of other countries that broke apart, realizing that national unity and integrity is more crucial than anything else

How big is the chance to team up with Anies Baswedan’s camp to launch the right of inquiry?

Communication is maintained through various instruments, such as mass media. I think it’s better if each goes independently so the profiles will be more complete. If we go independently, our data will complement each other.

Read the Full Interview in Tempo English Magazine