KPK Proposes Limit of Two Terms for Political Party Leaders, Here Are the Five Longest-Serving Names

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has proposed that the general chairman of a political party should serve a maximum of two terms as the top leader. This proposal to limit the tenure of party chairmen was put forward by the KPK’s Monitoring Directorate in its study on political party governance, which found that there is no integrated standard for cadre development systems. “To ensure the smooth running of cadre development, regulations are needed to limit the leadership of the general chairman to a maximum of two terms,” stated the KPK’s Monitoring Directorate on Wednesday (22/4/2026). Based on Kompas.com records, here are the five political party chairmen with the longest tenures: The political party general chairman with the longest tenure is Megawati Soekarnoputri, for 26 years. Megawati has led the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for 26 years, since she was first appointed as General Chairman for the 1999–2003 period. At that time, PDI-P was officially established on 1 February 1999 after experiencing dualism with the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) from the 1993–1999 era. The word “Struggle” was later added by Megawati to distinguish this party from the previous PDI. Muhaimin Iskandar, or familiarly known as Cak Imin, has been the General Chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) since 2005. After PKB was declared on 23 July 1998, Cak Imin was actively involved and served as Secretary General (2000–2005) before becoming the general chairman. Similar to Megawati, his tenure as PKB General Chairman will extend after his name was unanimously elected as the top leader for the 2024-2029 period. His name also previously served as General Chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) for a total of 16 years, starting from the 1998-2004 period.