Democrat Elite Hits Back at PDIP's Deddy: Is AHY Too Right to Be Refuted?

Sekretaris Badan Riset dan Inovasi Strategis (BRAINS) Partai Demokrat Yan Harahap has hit back at PDIP DPP Chairman Deddy Sitorus, who took issue with a statement by Democratic Party Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) regarding PDIP’s political position. Yan views AHY’s statement as too correct for PDIP to refute. “If an invitation to prioritise national interests over party interests is considered incitement, then perhaps what is disturbing is not the content of the statement, but because the message is too true to be denied,” Yan said on Thursday (25/6/2026). Yan admitted he was baffled by Deddy Sitorus, who assessed AHY’s statement as incitement. He questioned Deddy’s ability to digest AHY’s statement. “Perhaps this is actually a form of his inability to digest the narrative delivered by Mas AHY,” Yan said. Yan claimed he heard directly the statement by AHY that Deddy referred to. According to him, AHY’s statement was very clear that the task of political parties within the government coalition is to support and make government programmes successful. Meanwhile, he continued, the task of political parties outside the government is to deliver criticism constructively and accompanied by solutions. “That is a principle of a healthy democracy,” Yan added. Furthermore, according to him, AHY also emphasised that national interests must be placed above partisan interests. He said AHY even reminded people not to divide the nation, not to discredit as if everything is wrong, and to keep open space for evaluating public aspirations. “It is difficult to find a sentence that is more moderate and more calming than that, right?” Yan said. Departing from that, he questioned the way Deddy understood AHY’s statement, which actually invited all parties to prioritise national interests, maintain unity, and build constructive criticism. He was baffled that Deddy considered AHY’s statement as incitement. “So what needs to be questioned is the way of understanding the statement, not the content of the statement,” he said. Yan stressed that AHY’s statement was not incitement, but a reminder that democracy requires responsible criticism and politics that prioritises national unity. “That is a value that should be supported by all parties, not questioned,” he said. Previously, Deddy Sitorus launched sharp criticism at Democratic Party Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) regarding a statement asking PDIP to continue providing constructive criticism even though it is outside the government. Responding to this, Deddy asked AHY not to incite and to respect the political stance taken by PDIP. Deddy initially spoke about the many accusations against PDIP of being the mastermind of demonstrations and parties questioning PDIP’s position inside or outside the government. Deddy brought up that PDIP had even been accused of being the mastermind of a demonstration in 2025. The PDIP DPP Chairman revealed the same thing happened again in 2026. He said one PDIP cadre, Andi Widjajanto, was accused of being the mastermind of a demonstration. “Now, it’s the same. Andi Widjajanto is being accused. Even a coordinating minister like AHY spoke, yes, don’t incite,” he said. “This once again proves that being outside the government always makes it easy to become a scapegoat, yes,” he continued.