Labour Party Secretary General Resigns Alongside 1.3 Million Political Wing Members

Secretary General of the Labour Party Ferri Nuzarli resigned from the party as of Friday (26/6). He was not alone, as he and approximately 1.3 million members and administrators of the Organisasi Rakyat Indonesia (ORI) declared their withdrawal from the Labour Party due to differences of opinion regarding the party’s direction of struggle. Ferri stated that the decision was taken after extensive consideration and evaluation. “This decision was not an easy one. However, after various considerations and evaluations, we see that there are increasingly fundamental differences in views, attitudes, and direction of struggle,” Ferri said during a press conference on Friday. He explained that ORI is the political wing of the Confederation of All Indonesian Workers’ Unions (KSPSI) led by Andi Gani. ORI, which was founded in 2013, was one of the 11 initiating organisations behind the establishment of the Labour Party at its First Congress in October 2021. According to Ferri, around 1.3 million ORI members across Indonesia decided to resign from the Labour Party starting Friday. “With full awareness and responsibility, ORI, which has around 1.3 million members, has decided to resign starting Friday,” he said. Ferri emphasised that the resignation was carried out amicably while maintaining fraternal relations with the Labour Party. He also instructed all ORI administrators holding structural positions in the Labour Party at the central, provincial, district/city, and sub-district levels to immediately submit administrative resignation letters. “Today we instruct all ranks of ORI and Andi Gani’s KSPSI who serve as Labour Party administrators to immediately prepare resignation letters as an administrative requirement,” he stated. Ferri said the administrators following this move are spread across various regions, including North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Riau Islands, South Sumatra, Lampung, West Sumatra, DKI Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, DI Yogyakarta, East Java, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, and Papua. He likened the relationship between ORI and the Labour Party to a household facing prolonged problems, where various attempts at amicable resolution have failed. “We have actually been trying to resolve internal issues amicably for a long time, but the problems kept growing until finally, based on evaluations and input from all regions, we decided this is where it ends,” he said. Regarding the impact of the resignation on the Labour Party, Ferri claimed that ORI together with KSPSI is the largest initiating organisation within the party. “If you ask what percentage of influence it has, well, automatically it’s half,” Ferri said. He also mentioned that Labour Party President Said Iqbal was informed of his resignation plan on Thursday (25/6) evening. As of the writing of this report, CNNIndonesia.com had not yet received an official statement from Said Iqbal or the Labour Party’s Central Executive Board (DPP).