To the movements and the people of Indonesia, we, a small group among the people’s movements, are now referring to and introducing ourselves as the People’s Politics (Politik Rakyat).

The People’s Politics (not abbreviated) seeks to remain always as an important part of the struggle for socialism in Indonesia and the world. And in this first statement of the People’s Politics, in short we feel that it is important to convey the following explanation about ourselves:

• The People’s Politics is convinced of the capacity and combativeness of the Indonesian people as the casualties of capitalism and the capitalist administration in the current period, to become increasingly able to build the tools of political struggle, seize power and build a socialist system in Indonesia.

• Political cooperation between the people’s forces has and is very likely to develop, as a joint force to fight the critical issues of welfare, as a joint force to build populist anti-capitalist politics, and as a joint force that can accommodate and struggle for power and a socialist system. It is this cooperation that is important to and lays the basis for the People’s Politics courage in confronting the obstacles to achieving socialist power in Indonesia.

• The concrete form of this political cooperation that will be accommodated and/or offered by the People’s Politics to movement groups and the people of Indonesia is strengthening the mutual political forces of the people in confronting the capitalist political elite. Including within this at this time, is the political cooperation of the people’s forces in fighting against the political elite/capitalists, in the form of a united stand against all of the elite political parties that will contest the 2014 elections.

• The People’s Politics is a very small organisation, so without political unity it will be incapable of providing the impetus for a more rapid progression of the people’s resistance. But not just because it is small. The People’s Politics believes that unity between the people’s forces for socialism is the basis for life and development of socialism itself.

• In commencing and welcoming the various forms of cooperation between movement groups and the people, we need to convey several matters related to ourselves prior to adopting the name People’s Politics.

Before we were consolidated in the name of the People’s Liberation Party (Partai Pembebasan Rakyat, PPR), a small organisation that also aspired to socialism and consistently called for unity. At the conclusion of the last PPR Congress in February 2013, congress participants decided to change the organisation’s name to the People’s Politics.

We believe that the PPR has failed, primarily in building and maintaining the organisation as the socialist party envisaged by the PPR itself. The greatest failure of the PPR was demonstrated precisely when the congress was taking place, during the first agenda item of the congress, namely when the report back sessions was taking place, when almost half of the congress participants declared they would leave, or in their words declared a “final split” and would hold their own congress, led by the previous PPR leadership.

Thus accusations [made against us] such as: the existence of an ideological problem that places the women’s struggle as superior to the class struggle, including post-Marxist tendencies; a tendency towards radical feminism, anti-men or hatred of men, sisterhood and believing that men cannot be feminists, and separatism, which was being developed by women party leaders; have no basis because the group that left the congress did not wish to discuss them in the organization’s highest forum.

This is of course most shameful, internally and externally. Because the congress, which is most capable of looking at any kind of issues and different views, through discussion and debate, was disparaged in such a way that it was restricted to an arena for the declaration of a clandestine consolidation that they had been pursuing up until then.

In the face of such a situation, congress participants decided to continue the congress after half of the participants walked out. One of the outcomes of the congress was that the People’s Liberation Party was declared to have failed and we would begin anew with the name People’s Politics.

Thus in this greeting and introduction we wish to convey, as outlined above, that the People’s Politics will always be open to cooperation, without exception, in order to strengthen the people’s politics in fighting the political elite/bourgeoisie, towards socialism.

Jakarta, March 18, 2013

Vivi Widyawati, Coordinator

Budi Wardoyo, Secretary