Ganjar Pranowo

Ganjar Pranowo (born 28 October 1968) is an Indonesian politician who served as the governor of Central Java between 2013 and 2023. He is a member of the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Previously, he represented Central Java as a national legislator in the People's Representative Council (DPR) for two terms – 2004–2009 and 2009–2013.
On 22 April 2023, PDI-P announced that Ganjar will be the party candidate for the 2024 Indonesian presidential elections. He has been described as populist-left.
Early life
Ganjar Pranowo was born Ganjar Sungkowo on 28 October 1968, as the fifth of the six children of a family in a village on the slopes of Mount Lawu, Karanganyar, to a father, S Pamudji Pramudi Wiryo and a mother, Sri Suparni. Pranowo's father was a police officer who took part in counter-insurgency operations, including the crackdown of PRRI rebels.
Ganjar's birth name, Ganjar Sungkowo, translates to "reward after troubles/sadness (Sungkowo)." However, when he entered school, his second name was changed to Pranowo because his parents feared that the child would "always wallow in misfortune and trouble" if it remained as Sungkowo.
Education
Early education
Because of his father's assignments, his family often moved, including to Kutoarjo where Ganjar went for junior high school at SMPN 1 Kutoarjo. For senior high school, he attended a private school in the city of Yogyakarta. In high school, he was active in scouting activities. Towards the end of high school in the late 1980s, his father retired from police service, forcing his mother to open a grocery shop and sell gasoline on the roadside to make ends meet.
University
After graduating from high school, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Law at the prestigious Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta. During his time at UGM, Ganjar was active in the Indonesian National Student Movement known as Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia (GMNI). GMNI is currently affiliated to PDI-P.
While studying at UGM, Ganjar admitted that he had taken two semesters off due to not having the money to pay for tuition. He graduated with a law degree in 1994 with thesis examiner Professor Nindyo Pramono. Ganjar was involved in student demonstrations during college. He often protested against government and university policies.
Ganjar also earned a postgraduate degree from University of Indonesia's Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, graduating from the Political Science Masters program.
Early career
After graduating, Ganjar relocated to Jakarta to pursue work. He found employment in the oil and gas sector, working for PT Prakarsa Pramandita as a human resource development consultant officer. He also worked for other companies, including PT Prastawana Karya Samitra and PT Semeru Realindo Inti, before entering politics.
Active in GMNI and admiring Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, Ganjar in 1996 naturally joined the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), which was created with a Sukarnoist core. That year was vital for PDI and Pranowo, the party was hit by an internal conflict between supporters of Suryadi, who bowed to the authoritarian government of President Suharto, and Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri who rebelled against the political subjugation. She later created a splinter, PDI-P, which complete version means the rebel faction of PDI. Pranowo, a passionate Sukarnoist, supported Megawati and the PDI-P resistance, eventually leading him to choose a career in politics. Until the 1998 resignation of Suharto, it was difficult for anti-government politicians to hold onto their day jobs and they were frowned upon. As Ganjar's father was a police officer and his brother was a judge, his political move also troubled his family who worked for the government as Suharto's New Order regime required loyalty from state officials who must support the authoritarian president's Golkar party.
Ganjar witnessed firsthand the deadly 27 July 1996 incident when a mob of police officers and soldiers in civilian garb stormed the PDI headquarters. The attack was meant to intimidate and discourage the anti-government movement led by Megawati against Suharto's undemocratic crackdown on political freedom. The experience hardened Ganjar's choice to jump into politics through Megawati's movement.
Legislative career
Tenure
After years of working for the PDI-P consolidation after the 1998 transition to democracy, Ganjar in 2004 officially entered public service as a national legislator in Jakarta. Fresh-faced, folksy, and articulate, former student protester Ganjar quickly rose in popularity as a politician who has the gift of speaking to the public and media.
First term
After receiving advice from fellow professionals who joined the PDI-P movement in the 1990s such as Pramono Anung, who is currently serving as cabinet secretary, and Hasto Kristianto, who is currently PDI-P's secretary general, Ganjar decided to run for a People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) seat in 2004 parliamentary elections. However, he did not win. Fortunately, the PDI-P stalwart who did grab the DPR seat representing his Central Java-7 constituency received an ambassadorship assignment before the 2004 parliament began sitting from Megawati, who was president from 2001 to 2004. Megawati, as PDI-P chief, then assigned Ganjar to the seat that would become his political springboard.
During his first term as a DPR member from 2004 to 2009, Ganjar was assigned to a commission that oversaw agriculture, environment, forestry, and maritime affairs. Due to Megawati's loss in the 2004 presidential elections, PDI-P served as the opposition in Ganjar's first term. This gave him a platform to attack government policies on forestry at a time when the sector was mismanaged and known for the corrupt practices of the department that managed it and shine as an articulate politician. In addition, he was also assigned to lead the Special Committee for the Political Party Bill, giving him more opportunities to show his political skills.
Second term
With a far higher profile compared to his first race in 2004, Ganjar successfully defended his DPR seat in the 2009 elections. During his second tenure, Ganjar led the special committee that amended the bill on the roles and functions of legislatures while serving in the commission that supervises issues related to home affairs, local autonomy, public service, bureaucratic reform, elections, land affairs, and agrarian reform—all of which gave him more platform to build his reputation. PDI-P continued to be the opposition in the 2009–2014 term, which was a blessing in disguise for an up-and-coming, eloquent politician like Ganjar.
When the government was hit by controversies related to the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, Ganjar stole the limelight. He became known to the public as a member of the Special Inquiry Committee for the Bank Century Bailout for the opposition, giving him opportunities to convey public discontent over government policies for selected banks.
Amid his busy political life, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, at the University of Indonesia in 2013.
Governor of Central Java
First term
After nine years in parliament as a vocal opposition politician, especially in the commission that supervises home affairs, Ganjar gained popularity and also insight into regional administration despite his straight jump into national politics. With this modality, he aimed for a return to his home province as its governor. Ganjar did not finish his second term in parliament after he won the 2013 Central Java gubernatorial election. He ran an anti-corruption campaign with the slogan "mboten korupsi, mboten ngapusi" (no corruption, no dishonesty) against the incumbent Bibit Waluyo, a former general who was facing graft allegations. Ganjar won the election with a plurality of 48.82% of the vote.
His first term (2013–2018) was marked by his populist efforts in introducing free basic education, building public infrastructure, empowering the province's coffee farmers, and increasing anti-poverty programs. All of which made him well-positioned to defend his position in the 2018 Central Java gubernatorial election.
Economic reforms
During his leadership as governor, Ganjar enacted financing loan reform from Bank Jateng for MSMEs with the KUR Mitra 25 product bearing an interest of 7 percent per year, while Mitra 02 was at 2 percent, without collateral, and administrative fees. When launched, the loan interest was the lowest in Indonesia; now the model is replicated by other local governments throughout the country and has even received attention and appreciation from President Joko Widodo.
Ganjar made a breakthrough by requiring all state civil servants (ASN) which numbered more than 40,000 in the Central Java Provincial Government to pay zakat (based on PP No. 14 of 2014, Presidential Instruction No. 3 of 2014, and the appeal of the governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo). The income of each ASN is directly deducted by 2.5 percent. Monthly, IDR 1.6 billion is collected which is used for disaster assistance, repair of uninhabitable houses (RTLH), education and Islamic boarding schools, mosques, health sector, and others.
Anti-corruption reforms
In 2015, the Corruption Eradication Commission awarded the Provincial Government of Central Java, led by Ganjar, an award for its consistent reports of corruption and gratification. The recognition came due to Ganjar's dedication in controlling the giving of gratuities to both governors and officials of the Central Java provincial government. Now, the Eid parcel culture doesn't even exist anymore in the Central Java Provincial Government.
Other reforms
In 2016, Ganjar launched a program to form disaster-resilient villages. The target is that by 2018 all of the 2204 disaster-prone villages in Central Java become disaster resilient. Ganjar helped form 100 independent villages, mostly in areas that have the potential to become tourist destinations and deliver natural resources for community development.
In the health sector, Ganjar has planned the construction of an international standard modern hospital at MAJT (Central Java Grand Mosque). In addition, Ganjar Pranowo also launched the "Jateng Gayeng Nginceng Wong Meteng" program he initiated early during his administration.
Ganjar also brought about farmer cards during his administration. These cards contain data on the identity of the farmer, the area of land, the type of plant, and the need for fertilizer. Outside of farmers, no one has access to subsidized fertilizers, thereby eliminating crime and abuse of authority. President Jokowi then appreciated and made the farmer card a national program.
Second term
Ganjar ran for re-election in 2018 with a strategy of expanding his nationalist-based vote bank by including conservative Muslims through a young running mate from the Islamist United Development Party (PPP) – Taj Yasin Maimoen. Yasin, who was just 35 in 2018 and a member of the Central Java provincial legislature, is the son of powerful Muslim cleric Maimoen Zubair whose Islamic school influences areas where PDI-P was weak. The Muslim outreach strategy paid off with a 59% victory but it also triggered a drop in the less Islamic areas where PDI-P supporters are based. Ganjar even lost against his challenger, former energy minister Sudirman Said in the regency of Purbalingga which he represented as a national legislator.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the coronavirus pandemic in Indonesia, Ganjar said he would prepare a heroes' cemetery for medical personnel who died due to the coronavirus. The statement was in response to the case of residents' rejection of the funeral of a nurse at the Dr. Kariadi Hospital in Semarang who died from the virus. The statement drew criticism; some felt he should have paid more attention to the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect medical personnel; rather than speaking about graves. For this criticism, Ganjar said those who were using the situation to criticize were doing so for political gain.
His second term was marked by his hands-on governance during the COVID-19 pandemic that included him going to the ground often to manage the distribution of medical support and food packages for the affected communities. These populist efforts strengthened his reputation as a pro-people politician and paved the way for him to become the most electable politician in PDI-P for the 2024 presidential election.
Controversies
Weighbridge bribes
Ganjar on 27 April 2014 caught public attention when he expressed his anger at local officers who extorted truckers during a surprise inspection at the Subah weighbridge in Batang Regency. Ganjar said that he saw first-hand several people who gave money to officers to avoid official fines for overweight loads.
The Subah incident resulted in a policy to close the weighbridges in Central Java from May 2014. However, this policy caused Central Java to lose revenue with provincial councilors criticizing it as self-harm for the sake of popularity. The weighbridge closure also was not followed by an official evaluation of the duties and functions of government employees at weighbridges. The policy blowback led to a reversal.
Semen Indonesia dispute case
Ganjar became a target of protest from farmers who opposed his environmental permit for the activities of the national cement company Semen Indonesia Group in Rembang Regency through a demonstration in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta. Since 2015, residents have tried to resist the construction of a cement factory in Rembang's Kendeng mountains by taking legal action and holding demonstrations ranging from a camp out at the project site to the symbolic action of cementing their feet in Jakarta.
The community eventually succeeded to limit the activities of the cement factory construction after the Supreme Court on 2 August 2016 issued a judicial review decision that dismissed the environmental permit. Although the court decision prohibited mining and drilling in groundwater basins in the Kendeng mountain area, Ganjar on 9 November 2016, issued a new permit by only changing the name of the company from Semen Gresik to the name of its parent Semen Indonesia. According to him, the court decision did not stop factory construction. Thus, the establishment of the Semen Indonesia factory should continue.
Amid resident insistence that the factory should be shut down after the Supreme Court ruling, Pranowo stated that his administration would do so only under the order of the central government. However, the president said the resolution was the responsibility of the province and the central government had no authority to issue permits for cement factories owned by state companies.
Under heavy public pressure, Ganjar on 17 January 2017 canceled his previous addendum and decided to postpone the process of establishing the factory in Rembang until a permit decree was issued in adjustment to the Supreme Court decision. However, a new permit with a slight change in the geographical scope of the factory was re-issued on 23 February 2017.
Social media use
Before and when he was governor of Central Java, Ganjar was known to use the social media application Twitter to communicate with the public. During the inauguration of the acting regional head, he asked officials to be active on social media so that they could quickly receive complaints from residents and respond to and find out the latest information from their respective regions. According to Ganjar, through social media, he can listen to input, criticism, and even hear protests from people who do not like his policies in leading Central Java.
2024 presidential campaign
Ahead of the 2024 Presidential election, which will occur in February 2024, Ganjar has been the subject of media speculation on whether or not he will run for the presidency. In a poll conducted by New Indonesia Research & Consulting, Pranowo polls with 20.5%, with the defense minister and 2019 presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto coming in second with 16.7%.
This has resulted in rising tensions with Puan Maharani and the chairman of the PDI-P Election Winning Body (Bappilu) . Culminating in 2021, when Ganjar was not invited to an important PDIP event in Central Java.
On 19 October 2022, he expressed his possible run for 2024 Indonesian Presidential Election. His unofficial supporters speculated that Megawati Soekarnoputri already gave her consent and approval for him to run for presidency instead of Puan. He was officially announced as PDI-P's candidate on 21 April 2023.
On 19 September, Ganjar was featured on 3 Bacapres Bicara Gagasan episode of Mata Najwa which was broadcast live from Gadjah Mada University. He revealed his seven strategy campaign to eradicate poverty in Indonesia which consists of building human resources, stabilizing basic prices, strengthening social safety nets, downstreaming industry to become world class, increasing the value of infrastructure that has been built by the government, and returning Indonesia's nature to a better state.
Personal life
Ganjar is married to Siti Atiqoh Supriyanti, the daughter of Akhmad Musodik and Astuti Supriyadi. Akhmad is a Nahdlatul Ulama leader from Purbalingga, Central Java, and was the son of Kyai Hisyam Abdul Karim, founder of the Roudlotus Sholihin Islamic Boarding School in Sokawera Hamlet, Kalijaran Village, Karanganyar. They met in 1994 and got married in 1999 and had a son together, Muhammad Zinedine Alam Ganjar, who was born in 2001 and has graduated from SMAN 3 Semarang, Central Java in 2020 and is now a student of Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Ganjar's mother, Sri Suparni, was hospitalized at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, on 26 February 2015, where she died there on the early morning of 28 March from a complications at the age of 75. His father, Parmudji, was hospitalized at the same hospital on 21 February 2017, where he died there on 3 April due to old age and complications at the age of 87.
References
1968 births
Governors of Central Java
Indonesian Muslims
Living people
People from Karanganyar Regency
Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 2004
Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 2009
University of Indonesia alumni
Gadjah Mada University alumni
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle politicians