Press Release

Uphold People’s Power, Build up a Just, Equal and Prosperous Indonesia

Start from 11 to 15 January 2016, the Confederation of Indonesian People’s Movement (Konfederasi Pergerakan Rakyat Indonesia, henceforward KPRI) held its fourth congress in Jakarta, Indonesia. Through this congress, KPRI intended to respond to the necessities and challenges faced by all Indonesian people, including people’s organizations. In its prior press release from 12 January 2016, KPRI mentioned various issues created by capital holders and the oligarchy that Indonesians are facing today: poverty, the gap between those who have and those who have not, education, democracy, and the problem of the dominance of forces of capital in politics.

During a series of activities of this forth congress one major topic discussed was the significance of creating people’s primary cooperatives. Establishing this form of cooperatives is an attempt to sustain KPRI’s four pillars economy. The KPRI economic manifesto contains the main principles of this alternative economic program: establishing consumption bases, distribution bases, production bases, and economic institutions. Through the establishment of people’s primary cooperatives, we expect an economic empowerment of KPRI member organizations and the people’s movement as a whole.

Regarding KPRI’s endeavor to achieve economic sovereignty, the congress discussed the significance of raising the issue of transformative social protection. Transformative social protection stands in sharp contrast to the social policies currently carried out by the Indonesian government through its healthcare and social security insurance scheme and its workers social security insurance scheme (BPJS Kesehatan and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan). Transformative social protection implies that the state should provide permanent social protection to all Indonesian people in order to prevent them from falling into economic crisis, and in order to rehabilitate those who have already fallen into crisis.

Meanwhile, through a cultural workshop held on the first day of its congress, KPRI intended to assert that the liberation struggle from the shackles of oppression by capital holders and the oligarchy does not only take place in the field of economic policies, but also has to reach the cultural realm. To usurp the culture of struggle, which the people has been seized off or the benefit of capital holders, has become one of KPRI’s pivotal agendas.

Furthermore, a national seminar and various thematic discussions were held. The national seminar titled “Uphold People’s Power, Build up a Just, Equal and Prosperous Indonesia” covered issues such as politic sovereignty and its problems, the political program of multi-sector unity as well as cultural politics. The participants echoed euphoria towards establishing an alternative political power by building up a political party that is constituted by the people’s multi-sector movement. One priority of this people’s party will be struggle for transformative social protection.

The thematic discussions covered the issues people’s political sovereignty, village reform, and people’s sovereignty on controlling and managing agrarian resources. The thematic discussion on people’s political sovereignty focused on the challenges and opportunities for people’s movements in creating their own political party. A broad consolidation of ideas, policies and the organization is a prerequisite to achieve the aim of establishing a political party. This also implies doing advocacy work on policies and legislation. The discussion on controlling and managing agrarian resources concluded that the laws which regulate agrarian resources are deeply influenced by capital holders and oligarchic groups. Furthermore, the reform of the village engenders a distortion between the national village law and its derivative regulations. This distortion has caused constrains in the development of villages. Therefore, people’s political sovereignty in order to eliminate the capital holders’ control of the villages and agrarian resources is immensely required.

Apart from discussing constitution amendments and the broad outline of the programmatic objectives of KPRI (Garis-garis Besar Haluan Program/GBHP), the congress participants also addressed resolutions and recommendations. The resolutions (1) mandated the congress to establish a culture of people’s sovereignty by engaging all elements of society to liberate the people from authoritarian, patriarchal, and individualist culture; (2) mandated the congress to establish alternative politics by organizing the political basis of people’s power as a resistance towards the bourgeois political parties that are suppressive towards the people; (3) mandated the congress to lead the establishment of people’s prosperity by creating economic sovereignty on the level of consumption bases, by creating independent production bases, by creating equal distribution bases and by establishing a solid institutional set-up.

300 members of various organizations who hold the right to vote and observe participated in the congress. Sapei Rusin was elected as Coordinator of the Organization’s Steering Assembly (Majelis Pengarah Organisasi). The leaders of the seven national federations that constitute KPRI and the leaders of the 70 unions that are affiliated to these federations elected eight leaders of KPRI’s sectoral federations as members of the Organization’s Steering Assembly: Hermawan, Kamardi, Agustiana, Bambang Suryantoro, Lely Zaelani, Iwan, Sutrisno, Eko Waluyo. Furthermore, the Organization’s Steering Assembly was joined by individuals who meet certain criteria. These individuals are Sudarno, Noer Fauzi, Abdon Nababan, and Arimbi Heroeputri.

The participants of the congress who came as delegates from member federation from 157 cities/regencies and 19 provinces furthermore elected a National Leadership Council (Dewan Pimpinan Nasional). Chabibullah was elected as Chairperson and Anwar Ma’ruf as Secretary of the council. Meanwhile, Mukhtar Guntur Kilat, Vinsensius Vermy, Marlo Sitompul, Supriyono, Istuti, Laili Lubis, and M. Yamin were elected as members of KPRI’s National Leaderhsip Council.

Bandung, 18 January 2016

Confederation of Indonesian People’s Movement
The National Leadershif Council

Chabibullah
Chairperson

Anwar “Sastro” Maruf
Secretary