TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced that the Garuda Party short for the Change Indonesia Movement passed verification and won the right to run in the 2019 general election, the party immediately gained popularity. On Google, the Garuda Party ranked highest in search results, besting the Berkarya Party, Tommy Suharto, and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI).
The sudden popularity seems to be caused by a number of rumors, including that the Garuda Party is a reincarnation of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), upholds a fascist Nazi ideology, is an extension of the Nine Dragons gang, and is affiliated with the family of New Order ruler Suharto.
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Ahmad Ridha Sabana, Garuda's general chairman, gleaned these accusations from social media and reports from his colleagues. According to Sabana, the PKI accusation is due to Garuda's quiet activities. The party passed KPU's verification without much fanfare. "We moved quietly in the provinces. People thought it was the PKI's revival," said Sabana last Thursday.
Garuda was founded by Sabana and his colleagues on April 15, 2015. One year prior, Sabana was a legislative candidate from the Gerindra Party, but he lost. In Gerindra, the party led by the former husband of Titiek Suharto, Prabowo Subianto, only his older brother Ahmad Riza Patria was elected to the legislature. Both are sons of former chairman the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI), Amidhan Shaberah.
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After his loss, Sabana discretely approached people in the provinces to join his party as officials. In less than four years, he was able to establish enough branch offices to meet KPU's requirement. "Four central party officials are women, fulfilling the women's representation requirement," said KPU Chairman Arief Budiman. Garuda has rented the fifth floor of the Senatama Building, on Jalan Kwitang Raya No. 8, Central Jakarta, as their party's headquarters, until December 31, 2021.
The Nazi suspicion was caused by Garuda's logo, which resembles a bird holding a swastika. It was also because of this logo that the party has been accused of being funded by the Nine Dragons gang, the moniker for a group of Chinese-descent businessmen who control Jakarta's underworld.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
