After coming last in Golkar'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, who helped pay for party's prime-time TV advertising campaign.1 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, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.2
The party won 4.5% of the vote in the 2009 legislative election, and was awarded 26 seats in the People's Representative Council.3
The Reform Star Party (PBR) was merged into Gerindra in February 2011.4
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.5 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 2014.6
The 2008 Law on Political Parties states that political parties are allowed to include specific characteristics that reflect their political aspirations, as long as they do not contradict Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.7 As per Articles 5 and 7 of its constitution and bylaws (AD/ART), Gerindra is founded on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, while its identity is rooted in nationalism, populism, religion, and social justice.8 In February 2019, the party's central board member Andre Rosiade described Gerindra as a "nationalist-religious" party.9 Outsider views on the party's political orientation vary. Academics and domestic observers classified Gerindra as a nationalist party,10 while their international counterparts described it as a secular party with hard nationalist stance,11 ultranationalist,12 or "militant nationalist" party.13 Tom Power disagrees with labeling Gerindra as a secular party and categorizes it as a "inclusivist-nationalist" party, due to its perceived willingness to compromise on Islamic political agendas.14 Its political leaning has been described as right-wing1516 or right-wing populist.17181920
In its political manifesto, Gerindra has taken positions on several issues. On politics, Gerindra seeks to overhaul Indonesia's political system, rejecting liberal democracy as counterproductive. It advocates a culturally aligned democracy, emphasizing robust national leadership based on Pancasila and the constitution.21 In the economic field, Gerindra advocates economic populism, criticizing Indonesia's liberal economy. It seeks increased state involvement, rejects rising foreign debt, opposes the privatization of state-owned enterprises (BUMN), calls for the reevaluation of laws favoring foreign entities (such as the Oil and Gas Law and the Investment Law), and favors reintroducing the New Order era Broad Outlines of State Policy (GBHN). Gerindra generally rejects economic liberalisation and supports protectionist to even state capitalist22232425 measures, while supporting some deregulation to support entrepreneurship, particularly for small and medium enterprises.26 Gerindra follows a populist and nationalist economic platform, targeting the lower middle class such as farmers and fishers, though its supporters in the 2014 general election were disproportionately urban dwellers.27
Prabowo Subianto said in his speech at the INDEF-organization that Indonesia needs a middle way between capitalism and socialism, which would be a Pancasila economy how it the third president of Indonesia B.J. Habibie wanted.2829 Beside his own varient of a Third Way, he advocates for anti-neoliberalism.30
In foreign policy, Prabowo has expressed a desire for closer diplomatic ties with China and India, while calling for distance from the West.31 He has proposed a peace plan to end the Russo-Ukrainian War, involving holding referendums in disputed areas between the two countries, which was subsequently condemned by Ukraine.32 In January 2022, Prabowo expressed openness to the normalization of Indonesia–Israel relations.33
The Gerindra parliamentary group in the DPR have expressed their opinions on a few issues:
The following leadership structure of the party are as follows (2020-2025)39
Leader of the Advisory Council: General (Hon.) H. Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo
Deputy Leader of the Advisory Council
Secretary of the Advisory Council: Sugiono
Vice Secretary of the Advisory Council: Prasetyo Hadi
General Chairman: General (Hon.) H. Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo
Vice Chairman
Secretary General: Ahmad Muzani
Treasurer: Thomas Aquinas Djiwandono
Gerindra's wing organizations include:
Note: Bold text indicates the party member
"Prabowo nominated as presidential candidate by Gerindra Party". Jakarta Post. 14 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215422/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/14/prabowo-nominated-presidential-candidate-gerindra-party.html ↩
Demopoulos, Katherine (31 March 2009). "Indonesia's dark-horse candidate". Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on 1 April 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090401211506/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KC31Ae01.html ↩
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"PBR Gabung ke Gerindra" [PBR merged into Gerindra]. Detik (in Indonesian). 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2020. https://news.detik.com/berita/d-1573744/pbr-gabung-ke-gerindra ↩
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Rafie, Barratut Taqiyyah, ed. (21 September 2014). "Prabowo replaces Suhardi as Gerindra chairman". Kontan.co.id. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020. https://english.kontan.co.id/news/prabowo-replaces-suhardi-as-gerindra-chairman? ↩
Saifulloh 2016, pp. 178: "Akan tetapi, dalam Undang-Undang No.2 Tahun 2008 Tentang Partai Politik kembali dipertegas bahwa asas dan ciri partai politik merupakan penjabaran dari Pancasila dan UUD 1945." Translation: In Law No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties, it is emphasized that the principles and characteristics of political parties derive from Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. - Saifulloh, Putra Perdana Ahmad (December 2016). "Kewajiban Partai Politik Berideologi Pancasila Ditinjau dari Prinsip-Prinsip Negara Hukum Indonesia" [The obligation of political parties to embrace the ideology of Pancasila: examined from the principles of the rule of law in Indonesia]. Pandecta Research Law Journal (in Indonesian). 11 (2). doi:10.15294/pandecta.v11i2.9276 (inactive 2 November 2024). https://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/pandecta/article/view/9276 ↩
Gerindra 2020, p. 13 - Gerindra (2020). "Anggaran Dasar & Anggaran Rumah Tangga (AD/ART)" [Articles of Association]. Great Indonesia Movement Party (in Indonesian). https://gerindra.id/aanggaran-dasar-anggaran-rumah-tangga/ ↩
Kuswandi 2019: "Kalau Gerindra ini partai nasionalis-religius..." Translation: Gerindra is a nationalist-religious party... - Kuswandi (13 February 2019). "Andre Rosiade Sebut Gerindra Partai Nasional Religius" [Andre Rosiade describes Gerindra as a nationalist-religious party]. Jawa Pos (in Indonesian). Retrieved 13 January 2024. https://www.jawapos.com/politik/01206529/andre-rosiade-sebut-gerindra-partai-nasional-religius ↩
Lee & Paath 2019: "So-called nationalist parties such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Prabowo Subianto's political machine the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra)..." - Lee, Christian; Paath, Carlos K. Y. (31 May 2019). "How Different Are Political Parties in Indonesia From One Another?". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 16 December 2023. https://jakartaglobe.id/context/how-different-are-political-parties-in-indonesia-from-one-another ↩
Bulkin 2013: "It is a secular party whose chief ideology appears to be fierce nationalism and defense of the unitary state." - Bulkin, Nadia (24 October 2013). "Indonesia's Political Parties". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2019. https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2013/10/indonesias-political-parties?lang=en ↩
Heiduk 2014: "Prabowo's coalition consisted of his own ultra-nationalist Gerindra..." - Heiduk, Felix (9 September 2014). "Reformasi Reloaded? Implications of Indonesia's 2014 Elections". Center for Security Studies. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20230712101212/https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/183386 ↩
Bourchier 2015, p. 259: "Gerindra, Greater Indonesia Movement Party; a militant nationalist party formed in 2008." - Bourchier, David (2015). Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia. Politics in Asia. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203379721. ISBN 978-1-138-23672-1. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203379721/illiberal-democracy-indonesia-david-bourchier ↩
Power 2014: Gerindra is listed as "Inclusivist-Nationalist (Centrist)" in the table."Coupled with Prabowo's willingness to adopt a more 'Islamic' tone in his campaign, it seems there is sufficient evidence to doubt Gerindra's commitment to a 'secular' agenda. For these reasons, Gerindra cannot be included in the 'secular-nationalist' camp." - Power, Tom (22 May 2014). "Is there an ideological cleavage in 2014?". New Mandala. Retrieved 10 November 2023. https://www.newmandala.org/is-there-an-ideological-cleavage-in-2014/ ↩
Kwok 2017: "...while Anies is backed by the right-wing Gerindra Party of Prabowo Subianto..." - Kwok, Yenni (11 February 2017). "Voters Are Going to the Polls in an Election Seen as a Barometer of Indonesian Secularism". Time. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2023. https://time.com/4671464/indonesia-elections-islam-jakarta-ahok-democracy/ ↩
Meakem 2024: "Prabowo, who previously lost the presidency to Jokowi, belongs to the right-wing Gerindra Party and was a military officer under Suharto." - Meakem, Allison (2 January 2024). "A New Dynasty Rises in Jokowi's Indonesia". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 7 January 2024. https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/02/indonesia-elections-president-jokowi-economics-prabowo-pdip/ ↩
Santoso 2009: "Today, another highly spirited right-wing populist political party has emerged. Its name, Gerindra, Gerakan Indonesia Raya, the Greater Indonesia Movement, signifies its fervour for revitalising the greatness of the nation." - Santoso, Aboeprijadi (29 November 2009). "Gerindra and 'Greater Indonesia'". Inside Indonesia. Retrieved 29 November 2023. https://www.insideindonesia.org/archive/articles/gerindra-and-greater-indonesia ↩
Soeriaatmadja 2023: "This is because Mr Prabowo, 71, chairman of right-wing populist Gerindra Party..." - Soeriaatmadja, Wahyudi (28 November 2023). "Jokowi leaning towards endorsing populist party chairman for Indonesia president: Analysts". The Straits Times. Retrieved 22 February 2024. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/jokowi-leaning-towards-endorsing-populist-party-chairman-for-indonesia-president-analysts ↩
van Klinken 2009, p. 157: "...although thus far without producing programmatic platforms beyond the vague right wing populism of the PDI-P (of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri) or of Gerindra (of retired Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto)." - van Klinken, Gerry (2009). "Patronage Democracy in Provincial Indonesia". In Törnquist, Olle; Webster, Neil; Stokke, Kristian (eds.). Rethinking Popular Representation. Governance, Security and Development (GSD). Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–159. doi:10.1057/9780230102095_8. ISBN 978-0-230-10209-5. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230102095_8 ↩
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