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DPR-RI DURING THE NEW ORDER:
STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF THE STATE (1967-1998)

THE ROLE OF THE DPR AND ARISING

CRITICISM OF THE NEW ORDER

1977-1982

There seemed to be some kind of concern that if Golkar’s did not win 100%

of the votes in the general election then the policy program of Soeharto’s
government would be threatened.

IN the 1977 General Election, Golkar became the “least able” electoral
participant to maintain or even increase their percentage of votes. Golkar
experienced a 0.7 percent decrease in votes compared to the results of
the 1971 general election.

Given Golkar’s efforts in campaigning, the support it had, and its politi-
cal strategy, losing 0.7 percent of Golkar’s votes on a national scale was
considered a defeat for this group and a victory for PPP. The strength of
the PPP campaign and the number of people who attended the general
meetings of the Islamic party showed the solidity of the PPP’s mass base.
In another sense, for many people the future of PPP was bright, while
Golkar’s was bleak.

The idea of controlling the ideological power that was concentrated with-
in the political parties was later embodied in the party simplification pro-
gram (the merger of political parties) carried out by the Soeharto govern-
ment. The plan to simplify political parties was divided into three stages.

First, the identity grouping of political parties such as nationalist, spiri- President Suharto gave
a speech in front
tualist, and functional groups. Second, the formation of four factions in of DPR-GR’s assembly.
parliament, namely the faction of ABRI, Golkar, United Development, and
Development Democracy. Third, the process of merger of various politi-
cal parties into three parties.

The merger process required a legal basis, so parliament needed the
bills (RUU) on political parties and Golkar. Golkar tried to draft the bill in
accordance with Soeharto’s wishes to further limit the parties’ ability to

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