The Gerindra Party (acronym for , ) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Formed in 2008, Gerindra serves as the political vehicle of former general

Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...

. It is presently the third-largest party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, where it has 78 seats. Gerindra had positioned itself as an opposition party, but in 2019 it joined President

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...

's Onward Indonesia Cabinet, despite Prabowo having run against Widodo in Indonesia's 2014 and 2019 presidential elections.

History

After coming last in

Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = '' Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...

's presidential convention on 21 April 2004, Prabowo served as a member of Golkar's Advisory Board until his resignation on 12 July 2008. Gerindra was formed on 6 February 2008 at the suggestion of Prabowo's younger brother,

Hashim Djojohadikusumo Hashim Djojohadikusumo is an Indonesian entrepreneur and politician. Early life and education Hashim was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 5 June 1954. From a distinguished family, he is the youngest son of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, the architect ...

, who helped pay for party's prime-time TV advertising campaign. Prabowo was appointed chairman of the party's Founding Board. Gerindra's provincial level election teams were formed in February 2009. The party then claimed a membership of approximately 15 million, with its support base coming from across

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

. The party won 4.5% of the vote in the 2009 legislative election, and was awarded 26 seats in the

People's Representative Council The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...

. The

Reform Star Party The Reform Star Party ( id, Partai Bintang Reformasi) was an Islamist political party in Indonesia. The party was merged into Great Indonesia Movement Party in February 2011. Background The party began as a movement within the United Developm ...

(PBR) was merged into Gerindra in February 2011. In the national legislative election on 9 April 2014, the party's vote share jumped to 11.8%, making it the third-most popular party in Indonesia. Gerindra almost trebled the number of seats it won from 26 seats in 2009 to 73 seats in 2014. Following the death of Gerindra chairman Suhardi on 28 August 2014, Prabowo was appointed general chairman on 20 September 2014.

Policies

Gerindra follows a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

economic platform, targeting the lower middle class such as farmers and fishers, though its supporters in the 2014 general election were disproportionately urban dwellers. In November 2019, Gerindra deputy chairman

Fadli Zon Fadli Zon (born 1 June 1971) is an Indonesian politician, presently serving as a member of the People's Representative Council, where he was previously Deputy Speaker from 2014 to 2019. He was one of the founders of Prabowo Subianto's Great Indon ...

said the party firmly rejects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) people. Gerindra's Twitter account said the party supports early efforts to prevent LGBT in the community and schools, by involving religious leaders and health experts.

Wing organizations

Gerindra's wing organizations include: * TIDAR (''Tunas Indonesia Raya'', Great Indonesia Bud) * PIRA (''Perempuan Indonesia Raya'', Great Indonesia Woman) * GEMIRA (''Gerakan Muslim Indonesia Raya'', Great Indonesia Muslim Movement) * GEKIRA (''Gerakan Kristiani Indonesia Raya'', Great Indonesia Christian Movement); formerly named KIRA (''Kristen Indonesia Raya'', Great Indonesia Christians). * GEMA SADHANA (''Gerakan Masyarakat Sanathana Dharma Nusantara'', Sanathana Dharma Nusantara Society Movement); for Hindus and Buddhists. * PETIR (''Persatuan Tionghoa Indonesia Raya'', Great Indonesia Chinese Association)

Election results

Legislative election results

Presidential election results

''Note: Bold text suggests the party's member, or a former member who was still active in the party by the time of his nomination.''

References

{{Indonesian political parties 2008 establishments in Indonesia Anti-communist parties Anti-communism in Indonesia Conservative parties in Indonesia Nationalist parties in Asia Pancasila political parties Political parties established in 2008 Political parties in Indonesia Organizations that oppose LGBT rights Right-wing politics in Indonesia Right-wing populism in Indonesia Right-wing populist parties Social conservative parties