List of political parties in Indonesia

Since 1999, Indonesia has had a multi-party system. In the four legislative elections since the fall of the New Order regime, no political party has won an overall majority of seats, resulting in coalition governments.

Pursuant to the Indonesian political parties act, political parties' ideologies "must not be against Pancasila" and "is an explanation of Pancasila".

Overview

An election rally for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, 1999

The Indonesian political party system is regulated by Act No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties. The law defines political party as "a national organisation founded by like-minded Indonesian citizens with common goals to fulfill common interests and to defend the unity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia as based on Pancasila and the 1945 State Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia".

Political parties must register themselves with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to be recognised by the authority. The law dictates that political parties' registration criteria shall include a notarial act recognising the party establishment and party constitution; a document describing party symbols; address of party headquarters and prove of distribution of party local offices in provinces, and cities and regencies; and a prove of party bank account. The law also dictates minimum membership of new political parties on 50 persons, with the percentage of woman members and allocation of woman members to party offices are set on a minimum of 30%.

The party must undergo another registration process in order to participate in national elections; the registration shall be submitted to the General Elections Commission (KPU). Political parties whose had their registration declined by the electoral commission due to failure to satisfy administrative criteria or other reasons, are able to appeal their rejection to the General Election Supervisory Agency (BAWASLU).

Party principles

Indonesian political party should recognise the superiority of Pancasila, the national philosophy

Indonesian political parties should recognise the superiority of Pancasila and the national constitution, but Indonesian law tolerates the practice of other ideologies not in violation of the Pancasila and the constitution. A 1966 Provisional People's Consultative Assembly resolution still in force today, however, explicitly prohibits establishment of a communist party, and political parties are banned from adopting "Communism/Marxism-Leninism" (sic; explicitly defined in the resolution's corresponding explanatory memorandum to include "the struggle fundaments and tactics taught by ... Stalin, Mao Tse Tung et cetera") as the party ideology.

In essence, Indonesian political parties differs little on party policy and ideology. The only major difference between Indonesian parties is their position as to how major a role Islam, by far the nation's majority religion, should play in public affairs. This tendency resulting in several Indonesian political parties to brand itself as the part of nationalist-religious broad coalition in order to attract potential voters from both Muslim and secular nationalist groups.

The language of the left–right political spectrum is seldom used in Indonesia, in contrast with other countries. This tendency arose as the result of the New Order regime under Suharto which was anathema to left-wing policies after the 1965–66 Indonesian mass killings of members and supporters of the Communist Party of Indonesia. The New Order regime further stigmatised left-wing ideals as those espoused only by communists, discouraging Indonesian political parties from identifying themselves as left-wing movements lest they lose potential voters and be accused as communist. This tendency has survived even after the 1998 Reforms, partly due to the new regime's insistence on keeping anti-communist legislation in force.

Parties represented in legislatures

Parties represented in national and regional legislatures

Party			Leader	Year		Status in the DPR		Provincial DPRD seats	City/regency DPRD seats
				Est.	First election	Seats	Status
	Democratic Party Partai Demokrat		Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono	2001	2004	54 / 575	Opposition	219 / 2,232	1,584 / 17,340
	Party of Functional Groups Partai Golongan Karya	Golkar	Airlangga Hartarto	1964	1971	85 / 575	Government	309 / 2,232	2,412 / 17,340
	Great Indonesia Movement Party Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya	Gerindra	Prabowo Subianto	2008	2009	78 / 575	Government	288 / 2,232	1,970 / 17,340
	National Democratic Party Partai Nasional Demokrat	NasDem	Surya Paloh	2011	2014	59 / 575	Government	186 / 2,232	1,628 / 17,340
	National Mandate Party Partai Amanat Nasional	PAN	Zulkifli Hasan	1998	1999	44 / 575	Government	165 / 2,232	1,302 / 17,340
	Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan	PDI-P	Megawati Sukarnoputri	1999	1999	128 / 575	Government	418 / 2,232	2,803 / 17,340
	National Awakening Party Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa	PKB	Muhaimin Iskandar	1998	1999	58 / 575	Government	180 / 2,232	1,553 / 17,340
	Prosperous Justice Party Partai Keadilan Sejahtera	PKS	Ahmad Syaikhu	1999	1999	50 / 575	Opposition	191 / 2,232	1,229 / 17,340
	United Development Party Partai Persatuan Pembangunan	PPP	Muhamad Mardiono	1973	1977	19 / 575	Government	92 / 2,232	954 / 17,340

Parties represented only in regional legislatures

These parties participates on national elections - the last was in 2019 - yet failed to attain a single seat in the DPR due to failing to pass 4% parliamentary threshold. Notable failure was of Hanura, that was failed to return to DPR despite winning seats in 2014 election. Despite electoral failure in the DPR, these parties successfully gain seat in regional parliaments (DPRD). Although, these political parties, alongside with other extra-parliamentary parties, are sometimes referred as partai gurem (see below).

Aceh special autonomy statutes allowed formation of local political parties to compete only in the People's Representative Council of Aceh. Although the party number is serialised from the national list, Aceh local parties only appeared in ballot paper circulating in Aceh province.

Name			Leader	Year		Provincial DPRD seats	City/Regency DPRD seats
				Founded	First election
	Berkarya Party Partai Berkarya	Berkarya	Muchdi Purwopranjono	2016	2019	10 / 2,232	131 / 17,340
	Crescent Star Party Partai Bulan Bintang	PBB	Yusril Ihza Mahendra	1998	1999	7 / 2,232	214 / 17,340
	Garuda Party Partai Gerakan Perubahan Indonesia	Garuda	Ahmad Ridha Sabana	2015	2019	2 / 2,232	33 / 17,340
	People's Conscience Party Partai Hati Nurani Rakyat	Hanura	Oesman Sapta Odang	2006	2009	66 / 2,232	746 / 17,340
	Justice and Unity Party Partai Keadilan dan Persatuan	PKP	Yussuf Solichien	1999	1999	4 / 2,232	155 / 17,340
	Indonesian Solidarity Party Partai Solidaritas Indonesia	PSI	Giring Ganesha	2014	2019	13 / 2,232	60 / 17,340
	Perindo Party Partai Persatuan Indonesia	Perindo	Hary Tanoesoedibjo	2015	2019	29 / 2,232	379 / 17,340
Parties represented only in Aceh DPRD
	Aceh Party Partai Aceh	PA	Muzakir Manaf	2007	2009	18 / 2,232	120 / 17,340
	Aceh Regional Party Partai Daerah Aceh	PDA	Muhibbussabri A. Wahab	2011	2014	3 / 2,232	17 / 17,340
	Independent Voice of the Acehnese Party Partai Suara Independen Rakyat Aceh	SIRA	Muhammad Nazar	2007	2009	1 / 2,232	4 / 17,340
	Nanggroe Aceh Party Partai Nanggroe Aceh	PNA	Irwandi Yusuf	2011	2014	6 / 2,232	46 / 17,340

Extra-parliamentary parties

These political parties have no representation in either national or regional parliaments.

The term "partai gurem" (minor party, literally "tropical fowl mite party" referring to the small size) is commonly used by Indonesian media to refer to these political parties. The term initially referred to political parties that won a very small number of parliamentary seat, but after the 2004 election, to political parties that have no chance of surpassing the parliamentary threshold (currently 4%) necessary to gain representation on the People's Representative Council. These political parties are often perceived to be lacking in organisational structure, their leaders seemingly interested solely in attracting media attention.

These parties often have their attempts at registering for elections turned down by the KPU due to the parties' failure to satisfy registration criteria set by the commission, which includes completeness of party documents, a permanent physical party headquarters, minimum membership and minimum percentage of woman members. Parties that had their registration rejected often resort to appealing their rejection to the Bawaslu, with varied success.

Name			Leader	Established	Contested elections
	Republican Party Partai Republik	Republik	Suharno Prawiro	1998	1999
	Indonesian Bhinneka Party Partai Bhinneka Indonesia	PBI	Nurdin Purnomo	1998	1999
	Reform Party Partai Reformasi		Syamsahril Kamal	2000
	National Unity Party Partai Pemersatu Bangsa	PPB	Eggi Sudjana	2001
	Sovereignty Party Partai Kedaulatan		Ibrahim Basrah	2006
	Union of Independent People Serikat Rakyat Independen	SRI	Damianus Taufan	2011
	Indonesian Green Party Partai Hijau Indonesia	PHI	Collective leadership	2012
	Republican Functional Party Partai Karya Republik	Pakar	Ari Sigit	2012
	Indonesian People's Voice Party Partai Swara Rakyat Indonesia	Parsindo	M Jusuf Rizal	2013
	People's Party Partai Rakyat		Arvindo Noviar	2014
	Indonesian People's Democracy Party Partai Demokrasi Rakyat Indonesia	PDRI	Ambarwati Santoso	2015
	Indonesian People's Wave Party Partai Gelombang Rakyat Indonesia	Gelora	Anis Matta	2019	2024
	Indonesian Sovereign Nation Party Partai Negeri Daulat Indonesia	Pandai	Farhat Abbas	2020
	Masyumi Party Partai Masyumi		Ahmad Yani	2020
	Nusantara Awakening Party Partai Kebangkitan Nusantara	PKN	I Gede Pasek Suardika	2021	2024
	Labour Party Partai Buruh	PB	Said Iqbal	2021	2024
	Ummah Party Partai Ummat	Ummat	Ridho Rahmadi	2021	2024
	Just and Prosperous People's Party Partai Rakyat Adil dan Makmur	Prima	Agus Jabo Priyono	2021
	National Scout Party Partai Pandu Bangsa	PPB	Widyanto Kurniawan	2021
	Village Awakening Movement Party Partai Pergerakan Kebangkitan Desa	Perkasa	Eko Santjojo	2021
	People's Sovereignty Party Partai Kedaulatan Rakyat	PKR	Tuntas Subagyo	2021
	Indonesian Students Party Partai Mahasiswa Indonesia	PMI	Eko Pratama	2021
	Awaken and United Indonesia Party Partai Indonesia Bangkit Bersatu	Partai IBU	Zulki Zulkifli Noor	2021
	Partai Damai Sejahtera Pembaharuan Prosperous Peace Party of Renewal	PDSP	Hendrik RE Assa	2021
	Indonesian People's Da'wah Party Partai Dakwah Rakyat Indonesia	PDRI	Farid Okbah	2021
	Pelita Party Partai Pelita		Beni Pramula	2022
	National Peace and Love Party Partai Damai Kasih Bangsa	PDKB	Apri Hananto Sukandar	2022
	Indonesian Republiku Party Partai Republiku Indonesia	Republiku	Ramses David Simandjuntak
	One Republic Party Partai Republik Satu	PRS	D Yusad Siregar
	Congress Party Partai Kongres		Zakariani Santoso

Historical political parties

Political parties participating in 1955 and 1971 elections

Logo	Name		Established	Dissolved	Contested elections
					1955	1971
	Indonesian Islamic Union Party Partai Serikat Islam Indonesia	PSII	1923 1947	1973
	Nadhatul Ulama	NU	1952	1973 Still active as religious organisation
	Indonesian National Party Partai Nasional Indonesia	PNI	1946	1973
	Communist Party of Indonesia Partai Komunis Indonesia	PKI	1929	1966 Banned
	Islamic Education Movement Pergerakan Tarbijah Islamijah	Perti	1930	1973
	Masyumi Party Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia	Masyumi	1943	1960Banned Revived in 2020
	Indonesian Christian Party Partai Kristen Indonesia	Parkindo	1945	1973
	Catholic Party Partai Katolik		1945	1973
	Socialist Party of Indonesia Partai Sosialis Indonesia	PSI	1945	1960 Banned
	Indonesian Marhaen People's Union Persatuan Rakyat Marhaen Indonesia	Permai	1945
	Popular Consultative Party Partai Musyawarah Rakyat Banyak	Murba	1948	1973 Revived in 1998
	Labour Party Partai Buruh		1949
	National People's Party Partai Rakyat Nasional	PRN	1950
	Indonesian People's Party Partai Rakyat Indonesia	PRI	1950
	League of Supporters of Indonesian Independence Ikatan Pendukung Kemerdekaan Indonesia	IPKI	1954	1973 Revived in 1998
	Pancasila Defender Movement Gerakan Pembela Pantja Sila	GPPS	1955
	Police Employee Association of the Republic of Indonesia Persatuan Pegawai Polisi Republik Indonesia		1955
	Indonesian Citizenship Consultative Assembly Badan Permusjawaratan Kewarganegaraan Indonesia	Baperki	1954
	Great Indonesia Unity Party Partai Indonesia Raya	PIR
	Indonesian Movement Gerakan Indonesia	GI	1955
	Dayak Unity Party Partai Persatuan Dayak	PPD	1946	1959 Banned
	Islamic Tharikah Unity Party Partai Persatuan Tharikah Islam	PPTI
	Islamic Victory Force Angkatan Kemenangan Umat Islam	AKUI
	Village People's Union Persatuan Rakjat Desa	PRD
	Party of the People of Free Indonesia Partai Rakjat Indonesia Merdeka	PRIM
	Young Communist Force Angkatan Communis Muda	Acoma	1952	1965 Banned
	Muslim Party of Indonesia Partai Muslimin Indonesia	Parmusi	1967	1973

Political parties of the New Order

After his rise into power, President Suharto expressed his discontent regarding multiple political parties, arguing that the failure of Konstituante in 1955-1959 was caused by party deadlock - unacceptable his regime. He proposed that existing political parties unite based on their ideological essence – either spiritual (religious) or materialist (secular nationalist) - in order to cripple the resulting umbrella parties with infighting. Political parties' reaction to Suharto's propositions was generally positive, with Islamic parties claiming that party fusion was in line with their last National Islamic Congress resolution agreed in 1969. A political alliance dubbed the "Democratic Development Group" was formed by the PNI, the IPKI, Parkindo, the Murba Party, and the Catholic Party to compete in 1971 election.

After 1971 election, New Order regime reiterated its call for political parties to fuse, and a MPR ordinance regulating political parties grouping issued in 1973 further pressured political parties to merge.

All Islamic political parties merged to form the United Development Party (PPP) on 5 January 1973, and the remaining nationalist and non-Islamic political parties united to form the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) on 10 January 1973. Golkar, officially a "federation of public organisations" but effectively a political party, remained dominant for the entirety of the New Order. From 1985, all political parties were required to declare national ideology Pancasila as their "one and only ideological basis".

The parties participated for the last time in the 1997 election, and the three-party system survived until the collapse of the New Order in 1998 Reformasi. Ensuing political liberalisation allowed establishment of multitudes of new political parties, with the number of political parties participating in 1999 election jumping substantially to 48 parties.

After the Reform, the PPP survived and continues to participate in all following elections after 1999, albeit with much of its membership having broken off from it and founded their own parties. Golkar too was made a proper party and exists to this day. The PDI failed to imitate the post-Suharto successes of the PPP and Golkar after the government intervened and unseated Chairman Megawati Soekarnoputri, causing PDI support to collapse in the 1997 election. PDI votes further eroded as support instead went to its breakaway Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle (PDI-P), led by Megawati in the post-Suharto 1999 election, resulting in the party winning only two seats in contrast to the PDI-P's 153 seats. After poor electoral performance and failure to register for the 2004 election, PDI rebranded itself as the Indonesian Democratic Vanguard Party (PPDI) in 2003.

Logo		Name		Established	Fate
		Party of the Functional Groups Partai Golongan Karya	Golkar	1964	Active
		Indonesian Democratic Party Partai Demokrasi Indonesia	PDI	1973	Disbanded in 2003 succeeded by PPDI
		United Development Party Partai Persatuan Pembangunan	PPP	1973	Active

Political parties in post-reform era

Name		Established	Dissolved	Contested elections
				2004	2009
Labour Party Partai Buruh	PB	1998 As "National Labour Party"	2021 Reformed into Labour Party
People's Democratic Party Partai Rakyat Demokratik	PRD	1996	2021 Merged to form Just and Prosperous People's Party
Indonesian Democratic Party of Devotion Partai Kasih Demokrasi Indonesia	PKDI	1998	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Patriot Party Partai Patriot		1998	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Ulema National Awakening Party Partai Kebangkitan Nasional Ulama	PKNU	2000s	2022 Merged into People's Sovereignty Party (PKR)
Archipelago Republic Party Partai Republika Nusantara	RepublikaN	2001	2013 Merged into Hanura
Prosperous Peace Party Partai Damai Sejahtera	PDS	2001	2013 Merged into Hanura
Pioneers' Party Partai Pelopor	PP	2002	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Reform Star Party Partai Bintang Reformasi	PBR	2002	2011 Merged into Gerindra
Regional Unity Party Partai Persatuan Daerah	PPD	2002	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Concern for the Nation Functional Party Partai Karya Peduli Bangsa	PKPB	2002
Democratic Nationhood Party Partai Demokrasi Kebangsaan	PDK	2002	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Freedom Party Partai Merdeka	PM	2002	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Indonesian Unity Party Partai Sarikat Indonesia	PSI	2002	2005 Merged into PAN
Indonesian Nahdlatul Community Party Partai Persatuan Nahdlatul Ummah Indonesia	PPNUI	2003
Indonesian Democratic Vanguard Party Partai Penegak Demokrasi Indonesia	PPDI	2003	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Democratic Renewal Party Partai Demokrasi Pembaruan	PDP	2005	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Sovereignty Party Partai Kedaulatan	PK	2006	2013 Merged into Hanura
National People's Concern Party Partai Rakyat Peduli Nasional	PPRN	2006	2013 Merged into Hanura
National Sun Party Partai Matahari Bangsa	PMB	2006	2014
Functional Party of Struggle Partai Karya Perjuangan	Pakar Pangan	2007	2012 Merged into Democratic Party
Indonesian Youth Party Partai Pemuda Indonesia	PPI	2007	2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
National Front Party Partai Barisan Nasional	PBN	2007
Prosperous Indonesia Party Partai Indonesia Sejahtera	PIS		2011 Merged to form National Unity Party
Peace and Safe Islamic Party Partai Islam Damai Aman	Idaman	2015	2018 Merged into PAN	Not yet established

Parties participating only in 1999 elections

Following political liberalisation after the collapse of the New Order regime in 1998 Reformasi, registration for new political parties jumped significantly. As the result, the following 1999 election had 48 political parties competing for DPR seats, compared to the previous 1997 election that saw only 2 political parties plus Golkar.

Several parties claimed inheritance from former political parties existing prior to the New Order era, resulting in parties sharing similar political party names, with faction names as the only characteristics that made those parties distinct from each other. Example on this case was on claimants to the heritage of the former Indonesian National Party (PNI) and Masyumi Party.

Most of the parties failed to gain even a single seat due to lack of votes. After the new electoral law authorised the use of a parliamentary threshold to determine the division of DPR seats, those parties were forced to reorganise themselves in order to be able to register for the next 2004 election.

Below is the list of political parties participating only in the 1999 election which failed to participate in the next 2004 election.

Name		Established
Aceh Orphans' Foundation Party Partai Abul Yatama	PAY	1999
All-Indonesia Workers' Solidarity Party Partai Solidaritas Pekerja Seluruh Indonesia	PSPSI	1998
Democratic Catholic Party Partai Katolik Demokrat	PKD	1998
Democratic Islamic Party Partai Islam Demokrat	PID	1998
Democratic National Party Partai Nasional Demokrat	PND	1998
Familial Consultative Party of Mutual Assistance Partai Musyawarah Kekeluargaan Gotong Royong	MKGR	1998
Indonesian Democratic Alliance Party Partai Aliansi Demokrat Indonesia	PADI	1998
Indonesian Democratic Union Party Partai Uni Demokrasi Indonesia	PUDI	1996
Indonesian Islamic Political Party "Masyumi" Partai Politik Islam Indonesia "Masyumi"		1998
Indonesian Islamic Ummah Party Partai Umat Muslimin Indonesia	PUMI	1998
Indonesian Islamic Union Party Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia	PSII	1998
Indonesian Islamic Union Party - 1905 Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia - 1905	PSII 1905	1998
Indonesian Muslim Awakening Party Partai Kebangkitan Muslim Indonesia	KAMI	1998
Indonesian National Christian Party Partai Kristen Nasional Indonesia	Krisna	1998
Indonesian National Party – Marhaenist Front Partai Nasional Indonesia – Front Marhaenis	PNI–Front Marhaenis	1999
Indonesian National Party – Marhaen Masses Partai Nasional Indonesia – Massa Marhaen	PNI–Massa Marhaen	1998
Indonesian National Party - Supeni Partai Nasional Indonesia - Supeni	PNI–Supeni	1995
Indonesian National Union Solidarity Party Partai Solidaritas Uni Nasional Indonesia	SUNI	1998
Indonesian People's Party Partai Rakyat Indonesia	Pari	1998
Indonesian Workers' Party Partai Pekerja Indonesia	PPI	1998
Islamic Ummah Party Partai Ummat Islam	PUI	1998
Love and Peace Party Partai Cinta Damai	PCD	1998
National Freedom Party Partai Kebangsaan Merdeka	PKM	1998
National Love Democratic Party Partai Demokrasi Kasih Bangsa	PDKB	1998
National Party of the Indonesian Nation Partai Nasional Bangsa Indonesia	PNBI	1998
New Indonesia Party Partai Indonesia Baru	PIB	1999
New Masyumi Party Partai Masyumi Baru		1995
People's Choice Party Partai Pilihan Rakyat	Pilar	1998
People's Sovereignty Party Partai Daulat Rakyat	PDR	1999
Justice Party Partai Keadilan	PK	1998
United Party Partai Persatuan	PP	1999
Ummah Awakening Party Partai Kebangkitan Umat	PKU	1998
Workers' Solidarity Party Partai Solidaritas Pekerja	PSP	1999

Pre-independence organisations

Name		Established	Dissolved	Notes
Budi Utomo Prime Philosophy		1908	1935	First native political movement on the Dutch East Indies; its founding initiated the Indonesian National Awakening.
Chung Hwa Hui Chinese Association	CHH	1928	1942	Advocated Chinese rights in the Dutch East Indies.
Partai Indonesia Raya Great Indonesian Party	Parindra	1935	1939
Indies Social Democratic Association Indische Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging	ISDV	1914	1924	Forerunner of the Communist Party of Indonesia.
Indische Partij Indies Party	IP	1912	1913
Indo Europeesch Verbond Indo-European Alliance	IEV	1919	1962	Advocated Indo people rights in the Dutch East Indies and after the independence of Indonesia.
Partai Nasional Indonesia Indonesian National Party	PNI	1927	1931	Advocated Indonesian independence.
Insulinde		1907	1919
Partai Tionghoa Indonesia Indonesian Chinese Party	PTI	1932	1942	Advocated closer ties between Chinese and native Indonesians.
Partai Indonesia Indonesian Party	Partindo	1931	1936	Advocated Indonesian independence.
Persatuan Arab Indonesia Arab-Indonesian Union	PAI	1934		Advocated Indonesian allegiance to Arab-Indonesians.
Sarekat Islam Islamic Union	SI	1905	Active as religious organisation	Founded as a trade union, reformed as a political movement after the Indonesian National Awakening.

Others

Name		Established	Dissolved	Notes
Partai Kemerdekaan Indonesia Irian Indonesian Irian Independence Party	PKII	1946	1962	Founded in Netherlands New Guinea, advocated integration of Western New Guinea into Indonesia.

See also

• Politics of Indonesia
• List of political parties by country
• List of youth wings of political parties in Indonesia

References

• Feith, Herbert (2007) The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd, ISBN 979-3780-45-2
• Ricklefs, M.C. (1991). A history of modern Indonesia since c.1200. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4480-5