Origins At the 1993 National Congress,
Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected Chairperson of the
Indonesian Democratic Party, one of the three political parties recognised by President
Suharto's
"New Order" government. This result was not recognised by the government, which continued to push for Budi Harjono, its preferred candidate for the chairpersonship, to be elected. A Special Congress was held where the government expected to have Harjono elected, but Megawati once again emerged as elected leader. Her position was consolidated further when a PDI National Assembly ratified the results of the congress. In June 1996, another National Congress was held in the city of
Medan, to which Megawati was not invited; anti-Megawati members were in attendance. With the government's backing,
Suryadi, a former chairperson was re-elected as PDI's Chairperson. Megawati refused to acknowledge the results of this congress and continued to see herself as the rightful leader of the PDI. On the morning of 27 July 1996, Suryadi threatened to take back PDI's headquarters in Jakarta. Suryadi's supporters (reportedly with the Government's backing)
attacked the PDI Headquarters and faced resistance from Megawati supporters who had been stationed there since the National Congress in Medan. In the ensuing clash, Megawati's supporters managed to hold on to the headquarters. A riot ensued – at that stage considered the worst that Jakarta had seen during the "New Order" – which was followed by a government crackdown. The government later blamed the riots on the
Democratic People's Party (PRD). Despite being overthrown as chairperson by Suryadi and the government, the event lifted Megawati's profile immensely, providing both sympathy and national popularity. The PDI was now divided into two factions, Megawati's and Suryadi's. The former had wanted to participate in the
1997 legislative elections, but the government only recognized the latter. In the elections, Megawati and her supporters threw their support behind the
United Development Party and the PDI won only 3% of the vote. Following
Suharto's resignation and the lifting of the "New Order" limitations on national political parties, Megawati declared the formation of the PDI-P, adding the suffix
perjuangan ("struggle") to differentiate her faction of the party from the government-backed faction. She was elected chairperson of PDI-P and was nominated for the presidency in 1999.
De facto, PDI-P became a transformation or re-establishment of PDI and not a split.
1999–2004: Election victory, the Wahid–Megawati administrations, and splits PDI-P was by far the most popular political party coming into the
1999 legislative elections. With 33% of the votes, PDI-P emerged with the largest share. As the 1999 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session loomed closer, it was expected that PDI-P would once again play the dominant role. Despite winning the legislative elections, PDI-P did not have
absolute majority. Despite this, however, PDI-P never formed a coalition with any of the other political parties in the lead-up to the 1999 MPR General Session. The closest PDI-P had to a coalition was a loose alliance with
Abdurrahman Wahid's
National Awakening Party (PKB). The presidency looked set to be contested by Megawati and the then incumbent
B. J. Habibie of
Golkar who was looking for a second term. However, MPR chairman
Amien Rais had other ideas as he formed a coalition called the Central Axis which consisted of Muslim parties. Amien also announced that he would like to nominate Wahid as president. PKB, their alliance with PDI-P never cemented, now moved over to the Central Axis. Golkar then joined this coalition after Habibie's accountability speech was rejected and he withdrew from the race. It came down to Megawati and Wahid. Wahid, with a powerful coalition backing him, was elected as Indonesia's 4th president with 373 votes to Megawati's 313. The PDI-P supporters were outraged. As the winners of the legislative elections, they also expected to win the presidential elections. PDI-P masses began rioting in cities such as Jakarta,
Solo and
Medan. The normally peaceful
Bali was also involved in pro-Megawati protests. Wahid then realized that there was a need to recognize PDI-P's status as the winners of the Legislative Elections. With that, he encouraged Megawati to run for the vice presidency. Megawati rejected this offer when she saw that she had to face opponents such as
United Development Party's (PPP)
Hamzah Haz and Golkar's
Akbar Tanjung and
Wiranto. After some politicking by Wahid, Akbar and Wiranto withdrew from the race. Wahid also ordered PKB to throw their weight behind Megawati. She was now confident and competed in the vice presidential elections, and was elected with 396 votes to Hamzah's 284. The First PDI-P Congress was held in
Semarang,
Central Java in April 2000, during which Megawati was re-elected as the chairperson of PDI-P for a second term. The congress was noted as one where she consolidated her position within PDI-P by taking harsh measures to remove potential rivals. During the election for the chairperson, two other candidates emerged,
Eros Djarot and Dimyati Hartono. Both ran because they did not want Megawati to hold the PDI-P chairpersonship while concurrently being Vice President. For Eros, when finally received his nomination from the
South Jakarta branch, membership problems arose and made his nomination void. He was then not allowed to go and participate in the congress. Disillusioned with what he perceived to be a
cult of personality developing around Megawati, Eros left PDI-P and in July 2002, formed the
Freedom Bull National Party. For Dimyati, although his candidacy was not opposed as harshly as Eros', he was removed from his position as Head of PDI-P's Central Branch. He kept his position as a
People's Representative Council (DPR) member but retired in February 2002. In April 2002, Dimyati formed the Our Homeland of Indonesia Party (PITA). Although it had not supported Wahid for presidency, PDI-P members received ministerial positions in his cabinet because of Megawati's position as vice president. As time went on, much like the Central Axis that had supported Wahid, PDI-P would grow disillusioned with him. In April 2000,
Laksamana Sukardi, a PDI-P member who held position as Minister of Investments and State Owned Enterprises was sacked from his position. When PDI-P enquired as to why this was done, Wahid claimed it was because of corruption but never backed up his claim. The relationship improved somewhat when later in the year, when Wahid authorized Megawati to manage the day-to-day running of the government. However, she and PDI-P had slowly but surely started to distance themselves from Wahid and join forces with the Central Axis. Finally, in July 2001 at a Special Session of the MPR, Wahid was removed as president. Megawati was then elected as president to replace him with Hamzah as her vice president, becoming Indonesia's first female president. They party, however, faced further splits after Megawati became president with more disillusioned members leaving the party. Two of them were Megawati's own sisters. In May 2002,
Sukmawati Sukarnoputri formed the
Indonesian National Party Marhaenism (PNI-Marhaenisme). This was followed in November 2002, with
Rachmawati Sukarnoputri declaring the formation of the
Pioneers' Party (PP).
2004–2014: Opposition to the Yudhoyono administration By 2004, the reformist sentiments that had led PDI-P to victory in the 1999 elections had died down. Many were disappointed with what the reform process had achieved thus far and were also disappointed with Megawati's presidency. This was reflected in the
2004 legislative election, PDI-P obtained 18.5% of the total vote, down from the 33.7% it obtained in 1999. PDI-P nominated Megawati as its presidential candidate for the
2004 presidential election. Several running mates were considered, including Hamzah Haz (to renew the partnership),
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), and
Jusuf Kalla. Megawati eventually selected
Nahdatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi as her running mate. It was expected that she would appeal to nationalist sentiments while Hasyim would appeal to Islamist voters. In the first round of elections, the pairing came second to SBY/Kalla. To improve their chances in the run-off, the PDI-P formed a coalition with the PPP, Golkar, the
Reform Star Party (PBR) and the
Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) in August 2004. However, they were defeated in the run-off against SBY/Kalla. The National Coalition then turned their eyes on being the opposition in the DPR for the SBY/Kalla government. With Kalla's election as chairman of Golkar, Golkar defected to the government's side, leaving the PDI-P as the only major opposition party in the DPR. On 28 March 2005, the second PDI-P Congress was held in
Sanur,
Bali where Megawati was re-elected to the chairpersonship for a third term. Her brother,
Guruh Sukarnoputra, was chosen as head of the party's Education and Culture department. This congress was noted for the formation of a faction called the Renewal of PDI-P Movement. It called for a renewal of the party leadership if it was to win the 2009 legislative elections. Although they attended the Congress, the members left once Megawati was re-elected. In December 2005, these same members would form the
Democratic Renewal Party (PDP). The party came third in the
2009 legislative election with 14% of the votes. It had 95 seats in the DPR. Megawati was chosen as the presidential candidate, this time with a coalition between the
Great Indonesia Movement Party and PDI-P themselves, with
Prabowo Subianto as her running mate. They lost to SBY, with Boediono as vice-president, who won 26.6% of the vote.
2014–2023: Return to power, the Jokowi administration, and factional rivalry Initially there were wide speculations that Megawati will run again for the third time during the
2014 presidential election. However, during 2012, PDI-P suffered a leadership dilemma as there were fears within the party that Megawati might not win even if strong internal party support can be clearly seen. In an internal party survey by Poltracking in December 2013, many respondents preferred
Joko Widodo to run as the party's nominee rather than Megawati while an external survey done by CSIS earlier at May shown Jokowi to be the frontrunner. Megawati would announce that she will not run for president in 2013, citing regeneration as her reasoning. Despite having an agreement with
Gerindra that they will support
Prabowo Subianto's bid for president, PDI-P decided to nominate Jokowi as their candidate for president on March 14, 2014. PDI-P will later form a coalition with
Hanura,
NasDem, and
PKB on 19 May 2014 to support Jokowi's candidacy and announced
Jusuf Kalla as his running mate. The pairing won with 53.15% of the vote, and PDI-P returned as the largest party in the DPR, winning nearly 19% of the vote. On a party congress held on 9 April 2015, chairwoman Megawati referred Jokowi as a functionary, saying that as the nominee of PDI-P, Jokowi should carry out PDI-P's policy line and he owed the party the presidency. Several months prior, Jokowi had "offended" Megawati after having a dispute over the nomination of
Budi Gunawan, her former ajudant, as the
Chief of the Indonesian National Police by supporting
Badrodin Haiti after Budi Gunawan got implicated by a corruption case. Because of Jokowi's decision to back Badrodin Haiti and later
Tito Karnavian, he was jeered by party cadres. In April 2019, incumbent president Joko Widodo was the party's presidential candidate running for a second term, with
Ma'ruf Amin as his running mate. The pair was supported with this time, a larger coalition with
Golkar,
United Development Party,
Perindo, and
PSI declaring their support together with the existing coalition members. Widodo won a second term with 55.50% of the vote. PDI-P remained the largest party in the DPR, winning 19.33% of the vote. In preparation for the
2024 Indonesian general election, the party split over the choice of a presidential candidate. Younger party members opposed
Puan Maharani, the preferred candidate of the older establishment, in favor of
Ganjar Pranowo. Despite his popularity, Pranowo declared he wouldn't run. On 9 October 2021, Bambang Wuryanto urged unity under the (Javanese for "
bull") command for Maharani supporters, labeling dissenters as (Javanese for "
wild boar"). In response, young members launched the ("Fighting Boars Front") campaign on 12 October 2021, criticizing Wuryanto and the Central Board. They adopted a flag with an inverted color scheme as a symbol of defiance. On 15 October 2021, the PDI-P Central Board sanctioned members from both sides for attempting to bypass the leadership's decision-making process, emphasizing that only Megawati could decide the official presidential nominee and urging an end to the rivalry.
2023–present: Ganjar's nomination, worsening ties between PDI-P and Jokowi On 21 April 2023, Ganjar was officially nominated by PDI-P as its presidential candidate. On 22 October,
Gibran Rakabuming Raka–an active member of the party and the son of Jokowi–was officially nominated by the
Advanced Indonesia Coalition as the vice-presidential candidate for Prabowo Subianto, after a controversial decision by the
Constitutional Court allowed him to run. PDI-P initially supported the ruling and
Puan Maharani opened a possibility to have Gibran to run as Ganjar's running mate but later regrets it after Prabowo nominated him as his running mate. In November, Gibran was expelled from the party. In the following months, some members and politicians from PDI-P began to attack Jokowi. During the party's anniversary celebration held on 10 January 2024, Megawati indirectly criticized "power hungry" leaders. Observers believe that her statement is directed towards Jokowi, who was not invited to the event. She asserted that PDI-P had triumphed in the two preceding elections due to the people's backing, rather than owing to Jokowi's influence. Jokowi's alleged preference towards Prabowo Subianto over the party's nominee Ganjar Pranowo had caused splits to occur within the party. Members such as
Budiman Sudjatmiko,
Bobby Nasution,
Immanuel Ebenezer and
Maruarar Sirait had left the party due to their support to Prabowo Subianto. Gibran's vice candidacy to Prabowo also lead to realignment of voter demographics, especially in their own voting stronghold of
Central Java, as both PDI-P and Gibran have the same voting base. On 22 April 2024, in aftermath of Constitutional Court rejection over all claims and disputes related to the 2024 presidential election, PDI-P Central Board declared that both Jokowi and Gibran were no longer PDI-P member, thus confirming their separation from PDI-P. PDI-P on 7 May 2024 submitted a lawsuit against the
General Elections Commission to the Jakarta Administrative Court in hopes to annul the election results and prevent Prabowo and Gibran to be sworn in as president and vice president by the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). On 24 October 2024 prior to the
inauguration, the Jakarta Administrative Court rejected PDI-P's lawsuit, upholding Gibran's candidacy and the election results while penalize PDI-P by paying legal fees. On 28 May 2024, PDI-P held their 5th national meeting in
Ancol,
North Jakarta. The meeting declared that the
2024 general elections is by far the worst in Indonesia's democratic history due to massive practice of money politics, lack of ethics, abuse of power from the government and alleged violation of neutrality from election officials. PDI-P invites constitutional law experts, civil society, press, academics, intellectuals and all pro-democracy elements to carry out an objective evaluation of the implementation of the 2024 elections and demand all sides of the political spectrum to maintaining and realizing the ideals of the
Reformasi, especially the institutionalization of democracy with popular sovereignty; eradicating corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN); strengthening the press and civil society; supremacy of law; institutionalization of political parties; fair election organizers, and placing the TNI and POLRI to be more professional; and have an equal position in accordance with the spirit and history of its formation; its duties, functions and authorities are in accordance with the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The meeting also recommended that
Megawati Sukarnoputri to once again held chairpersonship from 2025 to 2030. As the result of their conduct of not supporting the choice of the party in the
2024 presidential and
local elections, PDI-P has formally fired 27 members from the party which include former President
Joko Widodo and sitting Vice President
Gibran Rakabuming Raka on 17 December 2024. Party secretary general
Hasto Kristiyanto said the move is to solidify the party and to remind PDI-P's commitment to Indonesia's democracy. On 17 December, PDI-P formally fired Jokowi from his membership and accusing him for electoral interference, abuse of power and calling him the "source of moral decay". They also fired several members, including
Gibran Rakabuming Raka,
Bobby Nasution,
Effendi Simbolon, and
John Wempi Wetipo for picking a different side during the presidential and local elections. During the Prabowo administration, PDI-P positioned itself as an opposition as they rejected Prabowo's offer to send ministers inside the
Red and White Cabinet and emphasized ideological renewal through training their members. However, their stances are rather ambiguous as they are also supportive towards some government policy. ==Political identities==