The Indonesian People’s Movement Need to Build a Political Party
Twenty-seven years after the fall of Suharto (1921 – 2008), the Indonesian Poor People’s Union (SPRI) argues that democratic promises have been hijacked by oligarchs and capital owners who continue to dominate through co-opted political parties and state institutions. In this translated manifesto from a May 2025 public discussion, SPRI activists make an urgent case for building a new political party “born from the womb of the people’s struggle” rather than elite boardrooms.
The document critiques existing left parties – including the Labour Party and PRD-Prima – for compromising with power structures they once opposed. As Indonesia grapples with laws like the Omnibus Job Creation Act that activists say serve corporate interests over people’s rights, SPRI calls for a militant, democratic alternative that unites fragmented social movements under one strategic framework focused on genuine people’s power. — Adam Novak
Enough! The People Must Rise Up and Fight!
The 1998 reform movement (reformasi) that successfully overthrew former president Suharto did not automatically change the political-economic power structure in Indonesia. The political system that was promised to be more democratic was still controlled by the old elite and the owners of capital. Various studies have shown that the oligarchy remains in power through the co-optation of the political parties and state institutions.
So far, the people have been asked to be patient. But until when? The reforms we fought for together have been hijacked! The agenda of social justice has been replaced with neoliberal policies. The capitalists and the bourgeoisie elite are increasingly powerful, while the working class and the poor are still being trampled on!
In a situation of democratic crisis hijacked by oligarchy, building a political party is not only a strategic choice but also a historical necessity. This party must be born from the womb of the people’s struggle, not from political elite who are interested in perpetuating the system. It must be a collective tool to seize power and transform it for the benefit of the oppressed people.
The Failure of the Labour Party, PRD-Prima
1. The Labour Party: It has failed to become a political vessel for the oppressed people. The Labour Party has actually compromised with the powers it was supposed to fight. Instead of becoming a tool for the working-class struggle, it submitted to the logic of parliament and the elite.
2. The PRD: The People’s Democratic Party as the builder of the Prima Party has changed course, shifting to the right instead of being a true opposition, Prima is now allied with the regime of President Prabowo Subianto, even though it represents the continuation of the old powers that oppressed the people. This is a betrayal of the spirit of the people’s resistance!
Why do we need a New Political Party?
1. Alternative political vacuum: There are no longer any parties that truly represent the voices of the poor, workers, farmers, fishers, and the oppressed.
2. Elitism and co-optation: All the major political parties and those claiming to be “left” have been co-opted by the elite system. There is no longer an independent voice of the people on the stage of power.
3. The need for an independent political vehicle: The people cannot continue to be spectators of history. The people need a militant, democratic, and egalitarian political tool built from below.
General Concept of a New Political Party
1. Uniting social resistance in one joint political strategy: The labour, farmer, indigenous, student, and environmental movements are all still fragmented. We need to unite our strength in a strategic framework of struggle that is guided and oriented toward people’s power.
2. Challenging the domination of the bourgeois elite: We must present a party that dares to challenge the dominance of the elite. Not a party that adapts but one that shakes the status quo, that stands at the forefront with the oppressed people, not the owners of capital.
3. Seizing power democratically: Such a party would not rely on coups or elitism but rather on organising the power of the ordinary people to seize control legally and democratically, in order to uphold a just, equal, and exploitation-free political economy.
The People Cannot Depend Upon the Elite!
The political elite have failed. Reform has been hijacked. The people have been betrayed. We cannot entrust our fate to parliamentary seats bought by tycoons and controlled by oligarchs. Laws such as the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (UU Cipta Kerja) and the Mineral and Coal Mining Law (UU Minerba) are merely legal tools for the appropriation of people’s rights. This is not democracy; this is bourgeois politics in the guise of democracy!
It is time for the people to rise up and build their own political party! In the midst of the crisis of representation and oligarchic political domination, the need for a political party that is truly born from the pulse of the working people is increasingly urgent. We do not need a party that is merely an extension of the capitalists or a bargaining tool for the elite, but rather:
1. A party born from the people’s resistance. Not a party formed in the meeting rooms of the ruling elite but rather a party that grew from the real struggle of the people in facing injustice. This party will emerge from the kitchens of workers, the farmers’ rice fields, the narrow alleyways of the city, and the voices of the people who had been silenced.
2. A party that defends the interests of workers, farmers, the urban poor and the oppressed people. Not a party that uses the people as a campaign tool before elections but then turns to the interests of a handful of owners of capital. This party will stand firmly against inequality, defend basic rights, fight for social justice, and reject all forms of exploitation and the plundering of the ordinary people’s resources.
3. A party that trains people’s cadres, not power brokers. Not a party that only produces opportunistic politicians who compete to climb the ladder of power, but instead a party that produces ideological cadres who think critically, work with the ordinary people, and are ready to become the drivers of long-term change. People’s political education is the heart of this movement.
Build a people’s movement political party! It’s now or never!
Invite your friends! Organise a circle of struggle! Start from the basics!
From factories, from campuses, from villages, from the countryside!
This party is not about logos and legality; it’s about the courage to lead change.
The people must reclaim their future! •
This article first published in English on the Europe Solidaire website.
