Aria Bima: PDIP Will Not Be Critical of the Government

Aria Bima, a member of the House of Representatives from the PDIP faction, emphasised that the party’s stance to stay outside the government is not based on an apriori attitude nor sniping at government policies. Known as Bimo, he said PDIP regards the government as a strategic partner that will be outspoken and critical in order to provide solutions. ‘Once again, the position of PDI Perjuangan has never been apriori with the government. PDIP does not snip at government policy. PDIP is not antipathic toward the government either,’ Bimo told reporters at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday (20/5). The statement was made in response to President Prabowo Subianto’s speech which touched on PDIP’s position as the sole party outside the government. Prabowo, in his address, said he would respect PDIP’s stance even though he did not want there to be an opposition party from the outset. Bimo stressed that PDIP’s current position is not opposition but a strategic partner. He explained that a strategic partner is a shared aspiration for the goals and ideals of the nation’s founders. ‘And which strategic is it? The one that maintains the nation’s pluralism. That is the strategic partner to ensure the government realises the goals of the Proclamation,’ he said. Bimo assessed that maintaining an outside stance is also an important democratic tradition. According to him, a party should be prepared to take that stance if the candidate they nominate loses in the political contest. For Bimo, this has been PDIP’s approach all along, not only towards Prabowo but also towards the previous administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). ‘Because PDIP, for instance, has been inside government twice. Twice in the era of Pak SBY and, at other times, outside the government. However, parliament needs a robust critical voice that exists,’ he said.