TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Golkar’s legislative power dims as parties rally behind Prabowo
The country's oldest and second-largest party at the House of Representatives may have seen its influence wane over the legislative body after losing the speakerships of the House and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Gerindra Party, respectively.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Supreme Court Chief Justice Syarifuddin (front, seventh left) leads lawmakers-elect in taking their oaths of office for the 2024-2029 term of the House of Representatives during an inauguration ceremony on Oct. 1, 2024 at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
Q
uestions have been raised whether the influence of Golkar, the oldest and second-largest political party in Indonesia, has diminished after it failed to secure itself the top seats in the country’s legislative bodies, the House of Representatives and the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Golkar retained, and even improved, its stance as the country’s second-largest party in the legislature after increasing its vote share to 15.3 percent in February’s legislative elections, from 12.3 percent in the 2019 election.
The vote gain also made the party the largest in the likely ruling coalition in Prabowo Subianto’s incoming administration, surpassing the president-elect’s own Gerindra Party in third position in the House.
Yet, despite the stellar electoral performance, the party failed to clinch the House and MPR speakerships, two positions that had often been held by Golkar since 1977.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Puan Maharani was reelected as House speaker on Tuesday after the newly elected lawmakers were sworn into office.
Two days later, MPR members, composed of lawmakers from the House and Regional Representatives Council (DPD), unanimously elected Gerindra’s Ahmad Muzani as the new MPR speaker. Golkar lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo held the position in the previous term from 2019 to 2024.
Read also: New lawmakers hint at pressing on with controversial bills
