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Golkar - Party of the Functional Groups (Partai Golongan Karya)

GOLKAR is the oldest operating political party in Indonesia, officially known as the Party of Functional Groups (Partai Golongan Karya). It was the dominant political force during President Suharto's "New Order" era. History and Ideology Founded in 1964 with military backing to counter communist influence, Golkar became the electoral machine for President Suharto, winning every election from 1971 to 1997. It is described as a centrist, secular-nationalist party focused on economic development.

As of August 2024, the party chairman is Bahlil Lahadalia, who also serves as the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister and is known as a key ally of former President Joko Widodo. Aftr the 2024 election Golkar was part of the coalition that supported President-elect Prabowo Subianto. The party performed strongly in the 2024 legislative election, finishing second and securing 102 seats in the House of Representatives.

Noted for its banyan tree symbol and association with the color yellow, chairman Airlangga Hartato describes Golkar as a “center” party that carries out “governing duties, religious roles and civic activities in equal parts.” In practice, Golkar tends to favor policies that are oriented toward economic development, and the party has been noted for counting various businesspeople in its membership.

As Indonesia’s Grand Old Party, Golkar’s history stretches back to the last years of the Old Order era when the Indonesian Military formed the Golongan Karya (Functional Groups) Joint Secretariat to combat the rising influence of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Golkar's mission was "to engage in politics to suppress politics." Its core membership was the Indonesian civil service and government officials at all levels Golkar has been a force in Indonesian politics since its establishment in 1971. Its durability in Indonesian politics is remarkable, with its party members continuing to occupy important positions in the political establishment long after the fall of President Suharto and the beginning of Reformasi in 1998.

The government's chosen instrument for political action was Golangan Karya (Golkar), the ABRI-managed organization of "functional groups." Golkar had its roots late in Sukarno's Guided Democracy within the left-dominated National Front as an army-sponsored functional grouping of nearly 100 anticommunist organizations. These groups had a diverse membership, from trade unionists and civil servants to students and women. As a political force to balance the weight of the PKI and Sukarno's PNI, this Golkar prototype--the Joint Secretariat of Functional Groups--was ineffective, but it provided a framework for the military to mobilize civilian support.

After 1966 it was reorganized by Suharto's supporters, under General Ali Murtopo, head of ABRI's Special Operations Service (Opsus), as an ostensibly nonpartisan civilian constituency for the New Order's authority. Golkar's mission was "to engage in politics to suppress politics." Its core membership was the Indonesian civil service and government officials at all levels of society, including the villages, and employees of state enterprises were expected to be loyal to Golkar. Behind the patronage and the semimonopoly on communications and funding that facilitated Golkar's electoral superiority, was the unspoken but occasionally overt power of ABRI.

With the fall of the Old Order, president Soeharto, who was from a military background, turned Golkar into his very own electoral machine with the purpose of winning the 1971 and subsequent elections. In every election held from 1971 to 1997, Golkar won more than 60 percent of the vote, assuming control of the House of Representatives and effectively rendering Indonesia a one-party state. Despite challenges during the Reform movement that led to Soeharto’s downfall in 1998, Golkar survived due to its political experience. While it has not secured the presidency since 1999, it remains a significant political player. Throughout its history, Golkar has always been part of the ruling coalition, except for a brief period between 2014 and 2016.

Suharto was directly involved in Golkar's organization and policies from the beginning of the New Order. The organization's top advisory leadership was composed of senior ABRI officers, cabinet ministers, and leading technocrats. Day-to-day operations were under the direction of the chairman of the Central Executive Board. Under the chairmanship of Sudharmono from 1983 to 1988, Golkar increasingly became Suharto's personal constituency as opposed to an ABRI-New Order regime-oriented grouping. Sudharmono attempted to make Golkar a more effective political instrument by transforming it from a "functional group" basis to individual cadre membership. It was expected that the cadres, augmenting the official outreach, would help in the rice-roots mobilization of the "floating masses" at election times. As a mass-mobilizing, cadre party loyal to Suharto, there was some speculation that Golkar was emerging as an autonomous political force in society, no longer fully responsive to ABRI. Credence was given to this speculation by Suharto himself, when he admonished Golkar in 1989 to adopt a central position rather than "sit on the sidelines." Further evidence of the change in Golkar was seen in the emergence of a second-level younger civilian leadership as represented by its secretary general, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, brother of Minister of Foreign Affairs Mochtar Kusumaatmadja.

Concerns about Golkar's direction probably contributed to ABRI's initial dissatisfaction with Suharto's selection of Sudharmono to be vice president in 1988. The possibility that as vice president Sudharmono might seek concurrently to keep his Golkar position came to the fore at Golkar's October 1988 Fourth National Congress. At the congress, ABRI pushed countermeasures including installing military men in Golkar's regional leadership, and Suharto avoided confrontation by replacing Sudharmono with Wahono, the relatively obscure former governor of Jawa Timur Province. Wahono was a man personally loyal to Suharto and without succession aspirations. Nevertheless, Golkar's commanding position in the "open" political process left unanswered the question of its potential to become a rival to ABRI or an alternative political base for future aspirants to power.

In 2004, internal divisions surfaced when former general Wiranto won Golkar’s presidential nomination during the party’s national convention and yet, at the same time, chairman Jusuf Kalla decided to run as a vice-presidential candidate alongside Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Yudhoyono and Kalla won the election, and Golkar aligned itself with Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. Wiranto then left Golkar and formed the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) in 2006, while Soeharto’s former son-in-law, Prabowo Subianto, followed suit and established the Gerindra Party in 2008. In the 2009 election, Kalla formed a coalition with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), but Yudhoyono won decisively, eliminating the need for a runoff. In the legislative election, Golkar came second to the Democratic Party. Internal divisions re-emerged before Golkar's 2009 national congress, leading to Aburizal Bakrie's election as chairman and a return to Yudhoyono's coalition. Media mogul Surya Paloh left Golkar and founded the National Democratic Party (NasDem) in 2011. Golkar faced more internal conflicts before the 2014 general election, with Kalla joining Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's team and Bakrie supporting Prabowo. Golkar's performance was disappointing, winning only 91 out of 560 seats.

Internal tensions escalated, leading to a leadership crisis in 2014, with Bakrie and fellow Golkar Party senior politician Agung Laksono leading opposing factions. Court rulings left the crisis unresolved until October, when the Supreme Court ruled in Bakrie's favor. Setya Novanto took over as chairman in 2016. But the following year, he was implicated in the e-ID card graft case and stepped down as House speaker and Golkar chairman. Airlangga Hartarto became Golkar chairman and supported President Jokowi. In the 2019 presidential election, Golkar supported Jokowi without fielding its own candidate. Golkar remained the second-largest party in the House in the legislative election, winning 85 out of 575 seats. Internal conflicts resurfaced in 2019, with demands for the election of a new chairman. Airlangga was reelected as Golkar's chairman for five more years.