Mallarangeng returned to Indonesia in 2001 and became a researcher in
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). At the same time, he became a talkshow host in
Metro TV. After working in CSIS for two months, he founded Freedom Institute, a think tank for young intellectuals and writers, where he serves as the executive director. despite the fact that his brother, Andi Mallarangeng, was a member of the
Democratic Party who supported the incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Although he was not supported by any party, Mallarangeng stated that he was willing to accept a candidacy offer from
Golkar Party or even the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. At this time, he was known for his statement, "
If there is a will, there is a way". However, although he had campaigned for three months from July to September 2008, his electability was still low. He claimed that during the campaign, his campaign team managed to increase his popularity to 35% compared to the previous rate, 12-14%, and yet he believed that this was insufficient since 90% was required to win the race. As a result, on November 19, 2008, he declared that he would withdraw from the race. Subsequently, he decided to support the candidacy of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and he was then appointed as the spokesperson for the campaign. After the election, Mallarangeng joined the Golkar Party, and on October 8, 2009, he was appointed as the Head of Policy Studies under the leadership of Aburizal Bakrie. This appointment was questioned due to the fact that he was close to the Democratic Party and was not a member who started from the bottom. Years later, after
Airlangga Hartarto was elected as the chairman of Golkar Party, Mallarangeng was appointed as the Vice Coordinator for Special Fundraising on January 22, 2018. Subsequently, on September 6, 2018, Rizal became the acting Chairman of Golkar Party’s DKI Jakarta Chapter. On March 19, 2019, he became the Coordinator for Special Fundraising of the Golkar Party. He was also appointed as the National Coordinator of Gojo (Golkar Jokowi) Volunteers to support the candidacy of
Joko Widodo for the
2019 Indonesian presidential election. == Private life ==