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View all search resultsPotential Gerindra-NasDem merger could reshape 2029 electoral landscape
Talks about a potential merger between Gerindra and NasDem, two of the country’s five largest political parties, have recently emerged, a scenario that analysts said could alter the political landscape ahead of the 2029 presidential election and weaken prospects for opposition figures.
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NasDem Party chair Surya Paloh (right) embraces then-president-elect and Gerindra Party chair Prabowo Subianto (left) on Tuesday after a meeting between the two party leaders at Prabowo's residence on Jl. Kertanegara in South Jakarta. Surya, who supported Prabowo's rival Anies Baswedan in the Feb. 14, 2024, election, said he would support Prabowo's administration. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
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alks about a potential merger between Gerindra and NasDem, two of the country’s five largest political parties, have recently emerged, a scenario that analysts say could alter the political landscape ahead of the 2029 presidential election and weaken prospects for opposition figures.
Speculations over the potential merger arose following reports of a meeting between NasDem chair Surya Paloh and President Prabowo Subianto, who is also chairman of Gerindra, at the latter’s private residence in Hambalang, West Java, in February, when the two held a one-on-one discussion behind closed doors.
A report published by Tempo magazine over the weekend cited unnamed sources from NasDem and Gerindra who claimed that the idea of merging the two major parties came up during the Hambalang meeting, after the NasDem chairman proposed raising the electoral threshold for the next legislative polls.
The government and the House of Representatives have been discussing changes to the General Elections Law to implement a series of Constitutional Court rulings, including a 2024 decision mandating that policymakers revise the 4 percent national vote threshold that political parties must meet to secure House seats.
The report, however, highlighted conflicting accounts over who first floated the merger idea, with NasDem sources claiming that Prabowo raised the proposal during the meeting, while members of the President’s circle said it instead originated from Surya, who suggested it as a way to simplify the country’s fragmented party system.
It also highlighted Surya’s business difficulties in recent years since his party threw its support behind unsuccessful presidential candidate Anies Baswedan in the 2024 race, including challenges facing the construction of Indonesia One Tower office high-rises in Central Jakarta, which require about Rp 3.7 trillion (US$ 215.7 million) in state bank loans.
Several senior NasDem politicians including deputy chair Saan Mustopa have been quick to clarify that the idea was not to see NasDem acquired by Gerindra but rather to explore a “political fusion” that would see both parties come together as equals in a newly formed entity.
