NasDem Party

History

The Party has its origins in a now-dormant youth-focused NGO called Nasional Demokrat (National Democrats) founded by Surya Paloh, who owns the media conglomerate Media Group, and Hamengkubuwono X, the sultan of Yogyakarta in 2010. It received extensive coverage on media owned by Surya Paloh. In 2011, Hamengkubuwono left the organization, unhappy with its transformation into a political party. Less than a month later, Surya Paloh formed the NasDem Party, and appointed former National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Patrice Rio Capella as its first chairman.

The party was officially declared on 26 July 2011, although it had previously registered to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in March. At the party's first convention in January 2013, Surya Paloh was appointed party chairman for the 2013 - 2018 term. The conference also conferred on him full authority to determine party strategy and policies and to win the 2014 election. Later the same month, one of the other founders and financial backers, media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo, founder of the huge Media Nusantara Citra media group, suddenly left the party in protest at Surya Paloh's appointment and defected to the People's Conscience Party, led by former general Wiranto. Hary subsequently became that party's vice-presidential candidate. In late 2013 the NasDem Party applied to contest the 2014 elections, and on 7 January 2014 the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced that the NasDem was the only new party that met all the requirements. It competed along with 12 other national parties.

Before founding the party, Surya Paloh had been a senior member of the Golkar Party for 40 years and rose to become chairman of the party's advisory council. He contested the presidential nomination at the 2004 Golkar convention, but lost. In 2009, Golkar nominated Jusuf Kalla as its candidate. However, Surya Paloh has "repeatedly denied" that he formed the NasDem Party to allow him to run for the presidency again. During the 2014 election campaign, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission criticized Surya Paloh-owned news network Metro TV for its excessive coverage of the party.

In June 2021, the party again came under fire from public when one of its cadre, parliament speaker of Tolikara Regency, Papua was allegedly supplying money and arms to armed groups under Free Papua Movement. The party denied such allegations and said that if proven, they are ready to fire the accused from the party.

Political identities

Ideology

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. As per Articles 3 and 4 in its constitution and bylaws (AD/ART), NasDem is founded on Pancasila and identifies itself as the "Movement for the Restoration of Indonesia". Outsider views on the party's political orientation vary. Academic and domestic observers classified NasDem as a nationalist party, while their international counterparts described it as a secular-nationalist party.

Party platform

According to its articles of association (AD/ART), the party aims to establish a democratic, just, and sovereign society. The party's foundation lies in nationalism with three objectives: achieving national independence, economic sovereignty, and cultural dignity. According to the party website, the party's policies are to:

• Fulfill the needs of the people
• Reject democracy that merely complicates governance without bringing about general prosperity and that only leads to power routinely changing hands without producing quality leaders that set an example.
• Build a mature democracy
• Build a democracy based on strong people who are called on to bring about a bright future
• Restore the ideals of the Indonesian Republic.
• Support the constitutional mandate to build a prosperous nation based on the principles of economic democracy, a law-based state that holds human rights in high regard, and a nation that recognizes diversity
• Bring about a nation that is just, prosperous and sovereign through a Movement for Change to Restore Indonesia.

Cadre training

Unlike most political parties in Indonesia which relied on informal training programs for the cadre specialized education and training, the NasDem Party owned its own formalized, advanced and specialized cadre education and training facility named Akademi Bela Negara Nasional Demokrat (English: National Defense Academy of National Democrats), or colloquially called ABN NasDem. ABN NasDem is a political corporate university, and it was the only kind in Indonesia. ABN NasDem institution and courses modeled after Indonesia primary national leadership education and training facility, National Resilience Institute (Indonesian: Lembaga Ketahanan Nasional). The academy founded by Surya Paloh and IGK Manila. The academy was inaugurated by Joko Widodo on 16 July 2017. The training materials were condensed into 48 credits for 4 months. It does not issue any degree.

Following NasDem move, several Indonesian parties formalized their political cadre training programs into functioning political corporate university. As in 2023, several political corporate universities have been established: PDIP Party School (PDIP), Gerindra Party Cadre School (Gerindra), Demokrat Academy (Demokrat), and Golkar Institute (Golkar).

Chairpersons

Main article: List of chairpersons of the NasDem Party

Controversy

On 17 May 2023, the Secretary General of the NasDem Party, Johnny G. Plate was named a suspect in the corruption case of the 4G BTS Infrastructure project in frontier, outermost, and disadvantaged areas (Indonesian: Daerah 3T: Terdepan, Terluar, Tertinggal) which was estimated to result in state losses of more than IDR 8 trillion.

In August 2025, two members of the DPR RI from the Nasdem Party, Ahmad Sahroni and Nafa Urbach, sparked controversy during the large protests against the contentious allowance for DPR members. Sahroni faced backlash for labelling those who wished to disband the DPR as "orang tolol sedunia" (the world's stupidest people), while Urbach drew criticism for complaining about the traffic congestion she encountered on her way to the DPR building. Both later issued apologies; Sahroni, who is currently in Singapore, refused to return to Indonesia for his own safety. On 30 August, enraged crowds vandalised and looted Sahroni's home. The following day, in response to public outrage, the Nasdem Party dismissed both Sahroni and Urbach from their positions in the DPR RI.

Election results

Legislative election results

Presidential election results

Note: Bold text indicates the party member

References

Sources

References

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5. https://nasdemjakarta.com/2022/08/18/mars-partai-hymne/
6. "About".
7. "Parties & Organisations". Progressive Alliance.
8. "About".
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11. (8 July 2011). "National Democrat civil organization is not Nasdem Party". The Jakarta Post.
12. (10 March 2014). "Getting to Know the Contestants of the 2014 Indonesian Parliamentary Elections". ISEAS Perspective.
13. "Sejarah Partai NasDem (History of the Nasdem Party)".
14. (18 March 2014). "Newly established Nasdem aims high in general election". The Jakarta Post.
15. (18 March 2014). "KPI says Metro TV gives Nasdem too much airtime". The Jakarta Post.
16. "Kader Nasdem Diduga Terkait Pemasok Senjata KKB, Ahmad Ali: Jika Terbukti, Kami Pecat". BeritaSatu.
17. "Diduga Ada Transfer Rp 600 Juta ke KKB Papua dari Pemda Puncak".
18. {{harvnb. Saifulloh. 2016
19. {{harvnb. 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), Golkar Party, National Democratic Party (NasDem) and the Democratic Party are still the dominant forces in Indonesian politics."
20. {{harvnb. Bulkin. 2013: "Thanks to its organizational strength and Paloh's wealth, this brand-new secular-nationalist party had no difficulty qualifying for the 2014 elections..."
21. "Visi Dan Misi (Vision and Mission)".
22. Hafiez, Fachri Audhia. (12 April 2018). "Partai Lain Diharapkan Menyontoh ABN NasDem".
23. Steven. (24 January 2017). "Nasdem Seleksi 16 Kader Masuk Akademi Bela Negara".
24. Jordan, Ray. (16 July 2017). "Jokowi Hadiri Peresmian Akademi Bela Negara Partai Nasdem".
25. Andryanto, S. Dian. (14 June 2023). "6 Sekolah atau Akademi Partai, Termasuk Sekolah Partai PDIP dan Akademi Bela Negara NasDem".
26. "BREAKING: AGO names NasDem minister Johnny Plate suspect in BTS graft case - Politics".
27. (2025-08-26). "Sahroni Jelaskan Soal 'Orang Tolol Sedunia' Saat Respons Tuntutan Bubarkan DPR".
28. "Nafa Urbach Menuju Kantor DPR, Itu Macetnya Luar Biasa".
29. "Nafa Urbach: Maaf Atas Perkataan Dari Mulut Saya".
30. Budi Arista Romadhoni. (31 August 2025). "Ahmad Sahroni Minta Maaf, Ogah Pulang ke Indonesia Usai Rumahnya Dijarah, Ini Alasannya".
31. (2025-08-30). "Warga Geruduk dan Jarah Rumah Anggota DPR Ahmad Sahroni".
32. Achmad Zulfikar Fazli. (31 August 2025). "NasDem Nonaktifkan Ahmad Sahroni dan Nafa Urbach sebagai Anggota DPR".
33. (10 May 2014). "KPU sahkan hasil pemilu, PDIP nomor satu". [[BBC]].
34. Zunita Putri. (21 May 2019). "KPU Tetapkan Hasil Pileg 2019: PDIP Juara, Disusul Gerindra-Golkar". Detik.com.
35. (19 May 2014). "Jokowi dan JK daftar ke KPU". [[BBC]].