Berkarya Party

The Berkarya Party (acronym for Beringin Karya, lit. 'Party of Functional Banyan') is an Indonesian political party formed in 2016. The party was formed to channel the political aspirations of former president Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy Suharto. Tommy, a convicted murderer by proxy, lost the general chairmanship of the party in July 2020 after the government recognized the leadership of a breakaway faction headed by former general Muchdi Purwopranjono. Berkarya came 11th out of 16 political parties that contested Indonesia's 2019 general election, receiving 2.09% of votes cast. The party supported Tommy's former brother-in-law Prabowo Subianto's unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2019. After failing to win a 4% threshold necessary to gain seats in the national parliament, the party in 2020 split into rival factions: one led by Tommy and the government-recognized faction led by Muchdi.

Tommy Suharto in 2009 contested the leadership of Golkar Party, his father's former political vehicle, but failed to win any votes. In 2016, it was announced that Tommy would again contest the Golkar leadership but he did not enter the race. Instead, he joined the newly formed Berkarya Party.

Berkarya is an amalgamation of Beringin Karya Party and National Republic (Nasrep) Party. It was established on 15 July 2016 to coincide with Tommy's birthday, and was recognized by the government as a legitimate political party on 17 October 2016.

Controversially, Berkarya Party uses Golkar's distinctive banyan tree logo and yellow color. Berkarya's founding chairwoman Neneng A. Tuty said these similarities were coincidental and not an effort to imitate Golkar.

In 2017, Berkarya announced it would nominate Tommy for the presidency for the 2019-2023 period "to restore Indonesia's glory, such as food self-sufficiency, development and creating justice in the country". Tommy's lawyer subsequently denied his client would be standing for election.

On 13 October 2017, Berkarya registered with the General Elections Commission (KPU) to compete in the 2019 general election. Berkarya claimed to have established its presence in all 34 Indonesian provinces and 514 regencies, in line with verification requirements for parties seeking to contest the 2019 election. On 14 December 2017, the KPU ruled that Berkarya was ineligible to contest the election because data submitted by the party concerning its membership in the regions was invalid. Berkarya filed an objection with the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), insisting the party had met all membership requirements. KPU and Bawaslu officials later met with Berkarya treasurer Raden Mas Hendryanto. KPU member Hasyim Asy’ari on 4 January 2018 said the meeting determined Berkarya had met the requirements for verification at the central level. On 17 February 2018, KPU announced Berkarya was among 14 parties (later revised to 16 parties) eligible for the 2019 elections. The following day, when parties drew numbers to determine the order they would appear on ballot sheets, Berkarya drew number 7. Then-chairwoman Neneng A. Tuty said number 7 is lucky and she hoped it would help the party to victory. According to KPU data, Berkarya is present in 486 regencies and has 409,022 members, of whom 36.36% are women. After the party's qualification, all of Suharto's children joined Berkarya Party.

Berkarya’s website states the party aims to fight for the people's aspirations and interests in every political and government decision and policy.

In February 2018, Tommy said if the party wins legislative seats in 2019, it would direct the government to better control state and regional budgets so programs favor the "small people, not just a handful of people". In March 2018, he said Berkarya would intensively approach politicians from other parties to join Berkarya.