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View all search resultsMegawati and her struggle for democracy
Valuing truth in a democracy means treating all citizens equally and respectfully, because each person is owed an equal measure of basic respect.
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Posters featuring ousted Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri adorn a desk on July 31, 1996, in the sacked PDI headquarters. (APF/File Photo/John MacDougall)
T
hirty years ago, a brave woman, the daughter of the founding father Sukarno, stood up for her democratic rights. In the face of violent authoritarian attacks on many fighters for democracy and humanity in the bloody tragedy of July 27, 1996, Megawati Soekarnoputri took the path of law and non-violent struggle against the perils of authoritarianism. She followed “the Gandhian tactic,” as Time reported on June 21, 1999.
Thirty years later, she feels sad, as the specter of authoritarianism is haunting Indonesia again. Today, she is building a monument named as Kudatuli, the popular acronym for Kerusuhan Dua Puluh Tujuh Juli (July 27 riots), as a proper way of remembering the dark history of that human tragedy, with a bold message: “We never forget.” History is not to be forgotten, but to be learned from in developing the founding fathers’ ideals of democracy.
The first lesson we might learn from the bloody events of 1996 is the courage to mount civil resistance against the banality of authoritarianism. Megawati is the type of political leader who has the courage to resist state-sponsored violence.
History tells a clear and true story that, as then National Human Rights Commission chairman Munawir Sjadzali and secretary-general Baharuddin Lopa rightly put, “the seizure of the PDI central secretariat building at No. 58 Diponegoro Street, Central Jakarta, on July 27, 1996, was an action accompanied by violence, with the support of the Medan Congress PDI central leadership and carried out together with security forces. This represented a continuation from a sequence of earlier events related to the creation of an open conflict in the body of the PDI in which the government/authorities involved themselves excessively and one-sidedly and out of proportion to their function as political steward and security force” (Oct. 12, 1996).
This official report shows clear evidence of the banality of authoritarian attacks on the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) office through state-sponsored violence. The authoritarian regime sought to impose severe measures to restrict the movement of democratic dissent. A brilliant scholar like Edward Aspinall even argued in 2025 that “the July 27 riot was the signal for a comprehensive crackdown on dissent. Regime leaders from Soeharto down immediately launched a fevered propaganda offensive, reviving the communist specter in a way not seen since the 1970s.”
In the face of authoritarian attack and propaganda, Megawati refused to compromise. While the majority remained silent for fear of military repression, she did not. In a situation of injustice, silence was never her political choice. It only gives room for the authoritarian regime to grow stronger and more violent.
Megawati stood out. Her courage to resist the authoritarian ruler in a civil and peaceful manner inspired many to do the same. “She became a symbol of Soeharto’s oppression. The more the President raged against her, the stronger she became” (Time, 1999). She held a strong belief that authoritarianism must and can be defeated through united and collective civil resistance and mobilization in the Gandhian manner. The authoritarian regime finally collapsed in 1998. This is exactly the type of social and political movement we urgently need today to resist the rise of authoritarian populism.
