Stalemate in Regeneration of Political Party Leaders in Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Political parties that repeatedly elect the same names to lead are seen as a form of regeneration stalemate.

This stalemate or gridlock was expressed by the Executive Director of Indikator Politik Indonesia, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, who spotlighted the regeneration of political party leaders in Indonesia.

“Our party regeneration is stuck, not just stuck, but gridlock. Gridlock means there’s no way forward at all. Initially, only a few parties experienced regeneration stagnation, but lately, new parties or post-reformasi parties are also facing stagnation,” said Burhanuddin at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta on Thursday (23/4/2026).

Although there is regeneration, he highlighted the declining quality of the general chairman selection process in Partai Golkar and PKS.

“If we look at Golkar, the extraordinary congress was very intensive and competitive, but lately it’s also diminishing, the quality of regeneration atmosphere, although still better than many other parties, that’s Golkar,” said Burhanuddin.

Burhanuddin firmly stated that leadership regeneration in political parties has long been part of political science literature.

“It’s all stuck if the selection process for party leaders doesn’t experience any change at all. And that’s what creates a kind of disincentive for quality party cadres,” said Burhanuddin.

In Indonesia itself, at least four names have held the position of general chairman of political parties for the longest periods.

In fact, one of them has served for 26 years as the general chairman of a political party and is still in office to this day.

Based on Kompas.com records, here are five general chairmen of political parties with the longest tenures:

Megawati has led Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P) for 26 years, since first being appointed as General Chairman for the 1999–2003 period.

At that time, PDI-P had just officially been established on 1 February 1999 after experiencing dualism with Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (PDI) from the 1993–1999 era.