National Mandate Party

National Mandate Party
Partai Amanat Nasional
Chairman Zulkifli Hasan
Secretary-General Eddy Soeparno
Founded 23 August 1998
Headquarters Jakarta
Ideology Pancasila
Ballot number 8
DPR Seats
48 / 560
Website
http://pan.or.id

The National Mandate Party (Indonesian: Partai Amanat Nasional) is a moderate Islamist [1] political party in Indonesia. It was founded by reformists, including Amien Rais, chairman of the Muhammadiyah organization, during the Indonesian revolution. The party contested the 2009 elections under the chairmanship of Sutrisno Bachir.[2][3]

Background

On 14 May 1998, around 50 political figures, including Goenawan Mohammad, Faisal Basri and Amien Rais established an organization called the Peoples Mandate Council (Indonesian: Majelis Amanat Rakyat, MARA) open to anybody who wanted to listen and express opinions. At the time, Amien Rais said that MARA would assess the performance of president Suharto's cabinet over the next six months. He also said that the people needed a strong forum that was respected by those in power and that the power structure under Suharto was not good at listening to people's opinions because it had become arrogant. At the time of the downfall of the Suharto regime in 1998, many new parties were being established and some of them wanted Amien Rais and other members of MARA to join them. One of these was the Crescent Star Party whose eventual leader Yusril Ihza Mahendra tried to persuade Amien Rais to establish a party. When he refused the offer, the party went its own way. On July 27, 1998 (the day after the declaration of the creation of the Crescent Star Party), Amien Rais announced the establishment of a new party to be called the People's Mandate Party (Indonesian: Partai Amanat Bangsa, PAB). This was changed to the current name after a lengthy voting process. The new party had its roots in the principles of religious morality, humanity and prosperity[4][5]

PAN in the legislature

Indonesian legislative election, 1999

In the 1999 elections, PAN won 7.4 percent of the vote and 34 seats in the legislature. The party then played a key role in putting together a central axis of Islamic political parties in the People's Consultative Assembly which helped ensure that Abdurrahman Wahid defeated Megawati Sukarnoputri when that chamber elected the president.

However, PAN's support for Abdurrahman Wahid did not last long. Less than a year after officially confirming its support for him at its first congress in Yogyakarta in February 2000, the party withdrew this support, saying it was concerned about the condition of the nation and state of Indonesia. Not long after that, Abdurrahman Wahid was voted out of office and replaced by Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Indonesian legislative election, 2004

For the 2004 elections, the party set a target of 15 percent of the vote. In order to promote his presidential candidacy, Amien Rais made a series of visits around the country. He also said that he was convinced that a retired military officer should be his vice-president. However, in the legislative election, the party won 6.4% of the popular vote and 52 out of 550 legislative seats. For the presidential election, Amien Rais stood with Siswono Yudo Husodo as his running mate, but only won 15% of the vote [6][7]

Indonesian legislative election, 2009

Supporters of the PAN at a campaign rally ahead of the 2009 legislative election

The party came fifth in the 2009 legislative election with 6.0 percent of the votes. It will have 43 seats in the People's Representative Council.[8][9]

Party platform

PAN is open to all elements of society, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion. According to the party website, PAN strives for the sovereignty of the people, social justice, and a better life for the people to bring about an Indonesian nation that is prosperous,developed, independent and dignified. It also wants to realize good and clean governance that protects all the people and brings prosperity, and to see a united, sovereign nation. The party wants to play a part in implementing world order based on independence, eternal peace and social justice, and wants Indonesian to be respected in the international community.[10]

Election results

Legislative election results

Election Total seats won Total votes Share of votes Outcome of election Election leader
1999
34 / 500
 7,528,956 7.12% Increase120 seats Amien Rais
2004
53 / 550
 7,303,324 6.44% Increase19 seats Amien Rais
2009
46 / 560
 6,273,462 6.01% Decrease7 seats, Governing coalition (Demokrat-Golkar-PKS-PAN-PPP-PKB) Sutrisno Bachir
2014
49 / 560
 9,481,621 7.59% Increase3 seats, Opposition (Gerindra-Golkar-Demokrat-PPP-PKS-PAN) Hatta Rajasa

Presidential election results

Election Candidate Running mate 1st round
(Total votes)		 Share of votes Outcome 2nd round
(Total votes)		 Share of votes Outcome
2004 Amien Rais Siswono Yudohusodo 17,392,931 14.66% Eliminated Red X Runoff

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Evans (2003) pp. 30-31
  2. ↑ Profil Partai Politik (Profile of Political Parties), Kompas newspaper 14 July 2008 pp. 38-39
  3. ↑ Dhakidae pp. 228
  4. ↑ Kazhaim & Hamzah (1999) pp. 34-37
  5. ↑ Dhakidae pp. 228-229
  6. ↑ Dhakidae pp. 229-2
  7. ↑ PAN website (in Indonesian)
  8. ↑ Indonesian General Election Commission website Official Election Results
  9. ↑ Indonesian General Election Commission website KPU Ubah Perolehan Kursi Parpol di DPR (KPU Changes Allocations of Parties' seats in the DPR (15 May 2009)) Access date 2009-05-24 (indonesian)
  10. ↑ PAN website Platform PAN (PAN Platform (15 May 2009)) Access date 2014-04-11 (in indonesian)
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