Ummah Party (Indonesia)

The Ummah Party () is a political party of Indonesia. The party formation was announced on 1 October 2020 and declared on 29 April 2021.

The party was founded by former Chairman of the National Mandate Party's Advisory Board, Amien Rais. Amien, an Islamic modernist-turned-Islamic conservative, became Chairman after an internal rift in the party over support for Jokowi's administration. 

The party aimed to attract Islamic populists, whose presence heightened during the Aksi Bela Islam period. The party, despite claiming to be a "Pancasila-based party", recruited many notable Islamic right-wing figures within their rank and carried out Islamic right-wing agendas. 

Ansufri Idrus Sambo, former "Spiritual Teacher" of Prabowo Subianto, leader of Garda 212 and former Presidium Alumni 212 leader, is one of the many Indonesian Islamic right-wing figures who joined the party. The Garda 212 is an unofficial political tool intended for Aksi Bela Islam alumni, but succeeded in providing channels and support for the alumni to become legislative candidates during 2019 Indonesian general election. The organization is also notable for launching numerous Islamic populist themed conspiracy theories, including one which claimed that the 2018 Surabaya bombings were a false flag attack.

2024 election 
The party initially registered to participate in the 2024 Indonesian general election, but failed to qualify. The party proceeded to launch a successful lawsuit against the General Elections Commission, leading to a reverification which found the party eligible to participate. Ummah was officially entered into the list of participating parties in the election on 30 December 2022, while other parties were entered on 14 December. Ummah received a ballot number of 24.

February 2022 crackdown 
In 10 February 2022 at 9:15 AM, an Ummah Party cadre of the Bengkulu province branch was arrested by Densus 88 for allegations of terrorism. It was found that he had declared allegiance to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) since 1999 and was a direct disciple of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and Abdullah Sungkar in 1993. Spokesman for Ummah Party, Mustofa Nahrawardaya proposed the government to evaluate the working procedures of Densus 88 in order to not become a terror among the public. Ummah Party also gave legal assistance to its arrested member and stated that the party will never deactivate his membership status. The captured member was member of the Bengkulu branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council. He was captured along with another member of the council. The capture further added the list of uncovered JI agents which spread to legal political party and state-sponsored religious agency. While the party defended its arrested member, the arrest was praised by the National Mandate Party, Nasdem, and the Indonesian Solidarity Party. The unusual move of the Ummah Party also attracted attention of social activist Islah Bahrawi. He further accused that the Ummah Party is a terror organization disguised as a political party or a front organization housing terrorist activity, citing a JI issued work, stating that to succeed their "long-term struggle strategy" they must implant their agents and cadres to sit in strategic positions in government, political and religious organizations, and businesses in hope facilitating the establishment of Islamic state in Indonesia.

References 

Political parties in Indonesia
Political parties established in 2021
Islamic political parties in Indonesia
Anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia