NasDem Cadres Enraged at Tempo Over Surya Paloh Cover
Numerous NasDem party elites have reacted sharply to Tempo magazine’s cover featuring General Chairman Surya Paloh in relation to reports on the discourse of a merger between NasDem and President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra party.
Not only the magazine cover, but they also criticised the content of the report and the use of the term ‘merger’ regarding that discourse. As a result, several cadres held a protest rally in front of Tempo’s office on Tuesday (14/4) and demanded that they issue an apology.
Jakarta NasDem Party DPW Chairman Wibi Andrino stated that Tempo magazine’s cover on the merger discourse with Gerindra has demeaned his General Chairman.
According to Wibi, his General Chairman has always been open to criticism. However, criticism should be substantive rather than using visual framing that could potentially demean.
“Criticism can be harsh. But ethics must still be the boundary. Freedom should not turn into losing direction,” he said.
NasDem Party DPP Chairman Willy Aditya rejected the use of the term ‘merger’ in the report. According to Willy, his General Chairman, Surya Paloh, only offered a political bloc or political block.
Willy assessed that the use of the term ‘merger’ shows incompetence in the report regarding political literature. In fact, Indonesia has a history of political blocs or fusions from the Old Order to the New Order.
“Don’t use ‘merger’. These are people who don’t read, people who lack political literature,” he said on Monday (13/4).
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the DPR’s Baleg from the NasDem Faction, Martin Manurung, described Tempo’s report, both in the magazine and their podcast, as press freedom gone overboard. He urged the Press Council to intervene immediately.
According to Martin, Tempo’s report has violated the code of ethics because it did not conduct thorough verification. Moreover, he said, the report has also damaged someone’s dignity.
“In situations like this, the Press Council, as the referee in the journalistic field, is very important to step in without waiting for a complaint,” said Martin.
Strong reactions were also voiced by NasDem cadres in the regions. North Sumatra NasDem DPW Chairman Iskandar ST firmly rejected the use of the term ‘merger’ in the issue of merging his party with Gerindra. On the other hand, Iskandar also denied the discourse.
According to him, the term ‘merger’ is considered demeaning to the DPP NasDem General Chairman, Surya Paloh. That aspiration was directly conveyed by representatives of cadres from various regions in North Sumatra who came to Medan.
Furthermore, according to him, to date, there has been no discussion regarding the dissolution or merger of NasDem with other parties, including Gerindra. Iskandar emphasised that NasDem was founded as a vehicle for political struggle, not to be sold.
“But indeed, there is no discussion that NasDem will be dissolved, acquired, or bought by other parties. NasDem was founded not to be sold, but to fight for the Indonesian people through all the cadres in the NasDem Party,” he said.