# Garuda Party

The Change Indonesia Guardian Party (Indonesian: Partai Garda Perubahan Indonesia), better known as the Garuda Party, is a political party in Indonesia that contested the 2019 general election. The party has been linked to the family of former president Suharto. Officials have denied the party is linked to the Suharto family or to former general Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra Party. Garuda declared itself to be neutral in the April 2019 presidential election, although some of its officials and legislative candidates voiced support for Prabowo.

## Background

In 2007, former information minister Harmoko, also a former chairman of Golkar, founded the National People’s Party (PKN), which failed to qualify for the 2009 general election. In April 2015, PKN was renamed the Change Indonesia Movement Party (Garuda). The party’s constitution, bylaws, symbol, and senior figures were all changed, making it unrecognizable from PKN.
Garuda Party was registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on 16 April 2015. The party espouses a nationalist platform.
Little was known of the party's leaders or policies prior to its registration for the 2019 election being accepted by the General Elections Commission (KPU) in October 2017. Party chairman Ahmad Ridha Sabana has said Garuda Party is a party of young people who want to contribute to national development.
According to KPU data, Garuda Party has 693,191 members across 509 of Indonesia's 514 regencies, and 36.36% of its members are women.
In its first election, the party gained just 0.5% of votes and did not qualify for the national House of Representatives. The party won one seat each in the provincial Regional Houses of Representatives of North Maluku and Papua. The largest number of 2019 elected municipal legislators from the party are in Papua province, before the province's split. In the 2024 election, the party still failed to qualify for the national parliament, while winning three provincial legislature and 34 municipal legislature seats, mostly in Maluku and Papua.

## Key personnel

* Chairman: Ahmad Ridha Sabana.
* Secretary General: Abdullah Mansuri. He is chairman of the Indonesian Market Traders Association (IKAPPI). He is the subject of several articles on cendananews.com, a news portal that reports on the activities of Suharto's children.

## Election results
### Presidential election results

| Election | Ballot number | Candidate | Running mate | 1st round (Total votes) | Share of votes | Outcome | 2nd round (Total votes) | Share of votes | Outcome |
| 2019 | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | | | |
| 2024 | 2 | Prabowo Subianto | Gibran Rakabuming Raka | 96,214,691 | 58.59% | Elected | | | |

### Legislative election results

Election results for national House of Representatives :
| Election | Ballot number | Total seats won (DPR) | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election | Party leader |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 / 575 | 702,536 | 0.50% | Neutral | Ahmad Ridha Sabana |
| 2024 | 11 | 0 / 580 | 406,884 | 0.27% | Governing coalition | Ahmad Ridha Sabana |
Election results for Provincial Regional Houses of Representatives :
| Election | Province | Seats won | Status | Reference |
| 2019 | North Maluku | 1 / 45 | | |
| 2019 | Papua | 1 / 55 | Joint parliamentary group with PKB and PPP | |
Election results for Regency/City Regional Houses of Representatives :
| Election | Regency/City | Seats won | Status |
| 2019 | South Nias | 3 / 35 | |
| 2019 | Mentawai Islands | 2 / 20 | |
| 2019 | Bojonegoro | 1 / 50 | Joint parliamentary group with Nasdem and Perindo |
| 2019 | Southeast Maluku | 1 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Biak Numfor | 2 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Dogiyai | 1 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Intan Jaya | 2 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Jayawijaya | 1 / 30 | |
| 2019 | Keerom | 1 / 20 | |
| 2019 | Lanny Jaya | 2 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Central Mamberamo | 1 / 20 | |
| 2019 | Mappi | 2 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Nabire | 1 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Nduga | 3 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Paniai | 2 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Sarmi | 1 / 20 | |
| 2019 | Supiori | 1 / 20 | |
| 2019 | Tolikara | 1 / 30 | |
| 2019 | Yalimo | 3 / 25 | |
| 2019 | Arfak Mountains | 1 / 20 | |
| ↑ "35 Anggota DPRD Nias Selatan Periode 2019-2024 Dilantik". Nias Satu (in Indonesian). 30 September 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Anggota DPRD Mentawai periode 2019-2024 resmi dilantik". Antara News Sumbar (in Indonesian). 2 September 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "ANGGOTA DPRD KABUPATEN BOJONEGORO MASA JABATAN 2019-2024" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Inilah Nama – Nama 25 Anggota DPRD Malra Terpilih Periode 2019 – 2024 - Media Tual News". tualnews.com (in Indonesian). 14 August 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Pelantikan anggota DPRD Kabupaten Biak Numfor ditetapkan pada 24 Oktober 2019". Antara News Papua (in Indonesian). 13 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "25 Anggota DPRD Dogiyai Periode 2019-2024 Resmi Dilantik". Nabire.Net (in Indonesian). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "25 Anggota DPRD Intan Jaya Periode 2019-2024 Dilantik". Nabire.Net (in Indonesian). 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Ini 30 Orang Anggota DPRD Jayawijaya Periode 2019-2024 Baru Dilantik". Trans89.com (in Indonesian). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2024. ↑ "Resmi Dilantik, Inilah 20 Anggota DPRD Kabupaten Keerom Periode 2019 - 2024". Resmi Dilantik, Inilah 20 Anggota DPRD Kabupaten Keerom Periode 2019 - 2024 - Lintas Papua (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "KPU Lanny Jaya, Tetapkan 25 Kursi Anggota DPRD". Cenderawasih Pos (in Indonesian). 16 August 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2024. ↑ "20 Anggota DPRD Mamteng Periode 2019 -2024 Resmi Dilantik". KawatTimur.ID (in Indonesian). 8 December 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Kabupaten Mappi Dalam Angka 2023" (in Indonesian). Statistics Indonesia. p. 21. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Pelantikan Anggota DPRD Nabire Periode 2019-2024". Nabire.Net (in Indonesian). 30 December 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Kabupaten Nduga Dalam Angka 2024" (in Indonesian). Statistics Indonesia. p. 25. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Kabupaten Paniai Dalam Angka 2024" (in Indonesian). Statistics Indonesia. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Kabupaten Sarmi dalam Angka 2024" (in Indonesian). Statistics Indonesia. p. 21. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Kabupaten Supiori Dalam Angka 2023" (in Indonesian). Statistics Indonesia. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "Anggota DPRD Tolikara hasil pemilu 2019 dilantik ketua pengadilan tinggi jayawijaya Yajib,SH,M.H" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "25 Anggota DPRD Yalimo Dilantik" (in Indonesian). Suara Papua. Retrieved 7 April 2024. ↑ "20 Anggota DPRD Pegunungan Arfak Dilantik" (in Indonesian). 30 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024. |||||||

## Controversies

Garuda Party chairman Ahmad Ridha Sabana in February 2018 denied media reports that the party was linked to Tutut Suharto. He said Garuda is independent and was “built by youths”. He admitted to working for Tutut in the past but said he was no longer president director of her TPI (now MNCTV) television network. He also denied his party was connected to Gerindra Party, although he acknowledged he had in 2014 stood as a Gerindra candidate for the Jakarta provincial legislative assembly. He also admitted his brother Ahmad Riza Patria was a Gerindra politician.
Ridha denied Garuda Party’s name and mythical garuda bird emblem were deliberately similar to Gerindra’s name and garuda bird logo. He also rejected claims that Garuda Party’s bird design resembles the Nazi party's eagle emblem.