PAN: Saiful Mujani's Statement is Just Foam in the Ocean, Not a Wave
Deputy Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Viva Yoga Mauladi stated that the remarks by political analyst Saiful Mujani regarding efforts to topple President Prabowo Subianto need not be overly concerning. According to him, Mujani’s views are merely like foam in the ocean.
“Saiful Mujani’s statement does not need to be taken too seriously, as it is just like foam in the ocean, not a wave,” said Viva when contacted on Wednesday (8/4).
Viva said that oppositional narratives and thoughts like Mujani’s will always exist and develop in every national leadership regime.
According to him, in democratic theory, this will lead to dynamic checks and balances.
“PAN believes that the majority of Indonesian society appreciates and is satisfied with President Prabowo’s performance. This can be seen from several survey results. PAN will continue to strive together with President Prabowo to fulfil the promises of independence,” he said.
Viva, who also serves as Deputy Minister of Transmigration, considers it normal if there are shortcomings or protests from certain parties in Prabowo’s leadership.
He said managing a country with an area of 5.2 million square kilometres and a population of 288 million people requires strong, visionary leadership and modern, integrative, participatory, and productive development management.
Viva opined that Mujani’s statement will not have a significant impact on influencing the national political climate. According to him, as an intellectual, Mujani does not have a large and fanatical mass base, unlike Nurcholish Madjid or Gus Dur.
“An intellectual should use knowledge and critical reasoning to understand, criticise, and guide societal life. They should side with the truth and have integrity in real life,” he stated.
Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya had previously responded to Saiful Mujani’s statement calling for the overthrow of the government. He claimed not to know about Mujani’s statement yet.
“I have a lot of work, I haven’t seen what he said,” said Teddy at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (7/4).
“Especially the President, the President is handling big matters, focusing on more strategic things,” he added.
Meanwhile, Saiful Mujani stated that his call for consolidation to topple President Prabowo Subianto is not a form of treason, but part of a political stance.
“The question is whether my statement can be called treason? I emphasise that it is not treason, but political engagement, namely a political stance or statement made about political issues in front of many people. The politics in that event mainly relates to President Prabowo’s performance,” said Mujani in a written statement.
He explained that a political stance is one level below political participation or political action. Political participation, he said, is the core of democracy. Mujani stated that there is no democracy without political participation.
“Political participation or actions aimed at the public interest take many forms. For example, voting in elections, campaigning, donating to parties or candidates, participating in political actions like demonstrations, strikes, sabotage, and so on, done peacefully. Peacefully bringing down the president is political participation. That is democracy,” he said.