Ganjar Pranowo (born 28 October 1968) is an Indonesian politician who served as the governor of Central Java between 2013 and 2023. He is a member of the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). He was a candidate for president in the 2024 Indonesian presidential elections, running alongside former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, Mahfud MD, and coming in third place. Previously, he represented Central Java as a national legislator in the People's Representative Council (DPR) for two terms from 2004 until 2009 and 2009 until 2013. He has been described as a left-wing populist.
Early life and education Ganjar Pranowo was born Ganjar Sungkowo on 28 October 1968, as the fifth of the six children of a family in a village on the slopes of Mount Lawu, Karanganyar, to S. Pamudji Pramudi Wiryo (1930–2017), a police officer, and Sri Suparni (1940–2015), a homemaker. He had three brothers, Pri Kuntadi, Pri Pambudi Teguh (b. 1961), and Joko Prasetyo, and two sisters, Prasetyowati, and Nur Hidayati. His father took part in counter-insurgency operations, including the crackdown of PRRI rebels. Pamudji was the son of Mangku Wirono who was a son of Danu Wiyono who was a grandson of Kanjeng Raden Tumenggung Mandoyo Nagoro who has a son, Raden Mas Abdullah, which has the same lineage with Sunan Kalijaga. Ganjar's mother owned a grocery shop and selling petrol in front of the shop, and also provided services as a seamstress. She later married Pamudji and had six children, including Ganjar who was the youngest son, and continued to sell petrol with him.
Ganjar's birth name, Ganjar Sungkowo, translates to "reward after troubles/sadness (Sungkowo)". However, when he entered school, his second name was changed to Pranowo because his parents feared that the child would "always wallow in misfortune and trouble" if it remained as Sungkowo. Because of his father's assignments, his family often moved, including to Kutoarjo where Ganjar went for junior high school at SMPN 1 Kutoarjo. For senior high school, he attended a private school in the city of Yogyakarta. In high school, he was active in scouting activities. Towards the end of high school in the late 1980s, his father retired from police service, forcing his mother to open a grocery shop and sell gasoline on the roadside to make ends meet.
After graduated from high school, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Law at Gadjah Mada University (UGM). During his college years, Ganjar was active in the Indonesian National Student Movement known as Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia (GMNI). He also served as a chairman of the Justicia Student Club (Majestic-55), a nature lovers organization founded by UGM Law Faculty students, from 1988 until 1990.
While studying at UGM, Ganjar had taken two semesters off due to not having the money to pay for tuition. During his leave, he carried out mountain climbing activities and taught high school students about nature science. Ganjar graduated with a law degree in 1994 with his thesis examiner Professor Nindyo Pramono. He was involved in student demonstrations during college and often protested against government, and university policies. Ganjar earned a postgraduate degree from Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at University of Indonesia, graduating in the Political Science Masters program.
Early career After graduating from Gadjah Mada University, Ganjar relocated to Jakarta to pursue work in oil and gas sector, and working for PT Prakarsa Pramandita as a human resource development consultant officer. He also worked for other companies, including PT Prastawana Karya Samitra and PT Semeru Realindo Inti.
Active in GMNI and admiring Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, Ganjar Pranowo joined the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), which was created with a Sukarnoist core, in 1996. The party was then hit by an internal conflict between supporters of Suryadi, who bowed to the authoritarian government of President Suharto, and Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri who rebelled against the political subjugation. She later created a splinter, PDI-P, which complete version means the rebel faction of PDI. Ganjar Pranowo, a passionate Sukarnoist, supported Megawati and the PDI-P resistance, eventually leading him to choose a career in politics. Until the 1998 resignation of Suharto, it was difficult for anti-government politicians to hold onto their day jobs and they were frowned upon. As Ganjar's father was a police officer and his brother was a judge, his political move also troubled his family who worked for the government as Suharto's New Order regime required loyalty from state officials who must support the authoritarian president's Golkar party.
Ganjar Pranowo witnessed firsthand the deadly 27 July 1996 incident when a mob of police officers and soldiers in civilian garb stormed the PDI headquarters. The attack was meant to intimidate and discourage the anti-government movement led by Megawati against Suharto's undemocratic crackdown on political freedom. The experience hardened Ganjar's choice to jump into politics through Megawati's movement. During Trisakti shootings on 12 May 1998, Ganjar visited the campus and witnessed a kid burning a truck in front of the campus. He then helped a journalist who had been shot and said the incident was the moment that resonated most with him regarding the May 1998 riots of Indonesia.
Legislative career
Tenure After years of working for the PDI-P consolidation after the 1998 transition to democracy, Ganjar Pranowo in 2004 officially entered public service as a national legislator in Jakarta. The former student protester Pranowo rapidly gained prominence as a politician recognized for his speaking and media appearances.
First term
After receiving advice from fellow professionals who joined the PDI-P movement in the 1990s such as Pramono Anung, who is currently serving as cabinet secretary, and Hasto Kristianto, who is currently PDI-P's secretary general, Ganjar Pranowo decided to run for a People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) seat in 2004 parliamentary elections. However, he did not win. Fortunately, the PDI-P stalwart who did grab the DPR seat representing his Central Java-7 constituency received an ambassadorship assignment before the 2004 parliament began sitting from Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was president from 2001 to 2004. Megawati Soekarnoputri, as PDI-P chief, then assigned Ganjar to the seat that would become his political springboard.
During his first term as a DPR member from 2004 to 2009, Ganjar Pranowo was assigned to a commission that oversaw agriculture, environment, forestry, and maritime affairs. Due to Megawati's loss in the 2004 presidential elections, PDI-P served as the opposition in Ganjar's first term. This gave him a platform to attack government policies on forestry at a time when the sector was mismanaged and known for the corrupt practices of the department that managed it and shine as an articulate politician. In addition, he was also assigned to lead the Special Committee for the Political Party Bill, giving him more opportunities to show his political skills.
Second term
With a far higher profile compared to his first race in 2004, Ganjar Pranowo successfully defended his DPR seat in the 2009 elections. During his second tenure, Ganjar Pranowo led the special committee that amended the bill on the roles and functions of legislatures while serving in the commission that supervises issues related to home affairs, local autonomy, public service, bureaucratic reform, elections, land affairs, and agrarian reform all of which gave him more platform to build his reputation. PDI-P continued to be the opposition in the 2009–2014 term, which was a blessing in disguise for an up-and-coming, eloquent politician like Ganjar Pranowo.
When the government was hit by controversies related to the 2008 financial crisis, Ganjar Pranowo stole the limelight. He became known to the public as a member of the Special Inquiry Committee for the Bank Century Bailout for the opposition, giving him opportunities to convey public discontent over government policies for selected banks.
Amid his busy political life, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, at the University of Indonesia in 2013. His thesis focused on the independence of the General Elections Commission, specifically the government at the time and two of its governing parties' (Demokrat and PAN) stance on whether representatives of political parties should be allowed on the commission.
Governor of Central Java
First term
After nine years in parliament as a vocal opposition politician, especially in the commission that supervises home affairs, Ganjar Pranowo gained popularity and also insight into regional administration despite his straight jump into national politics. With this modality, he aimed for a return to his home province as its governor. Ganjar Pranowo did not finish his second term in parliament after he won the 2013 Central Java gubernatorial election. He ran an anti-corruption campaign with the slogan "mboten korupsi, mboten ngapusi" (no corruption, no dishonesty) against the incumbent Bibit Waluyo, a former general who was facing graft allegations. Ganjar won the election with a plurality of 48.82% of the vote.
His first term (2013–2018) was marked by his populist efforts in introducing free basic education, building public infrastructure, empowering the province's coffee farmers, and increasing anti-poverty programs. All of which made him well-positioned to defend his position in the 2018 Central Java gubernatorial election.
Economic reforms During his leadership as governor, Ganjar Pranowo enacted financing loan reform from Bank Jateng [id] for MSMEs with the KUR Mitra 25 product bearing an interest of 7 percent per year, while Mitra 02 was at 2 percent, without collateral, and administrative fees. When launched, the loan interest was the lowest in Indonesia; now the model is replicated by other local governments throughout the country and has even received attention and appreciation from President Joko Widodo.
Ganjar Pranowo made a breakthrough by requiring all state civil servants (ASN) which numbered more than 40,000 in the Central Java Provincial Government to pay zakat (based on PP No. 14 of 2014, Presidential Instruction No. 3 of 2014, and the appeal of the governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo). The income of each ASN is directly deducted by 2.5 percent. Monthly, IDR 1.6 billion is collected which is used for disaster assistance, repair of uninhabitable houses (RTLH), education and Islamic boarding schools, mosques, health sector, and others.
Ganjar lowered the annual interest rate on the provincial microcredit program (KUR) for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to 3%, the lowest in the country.
Anti-corruption reforms In 2015, the Corruption Eradication Commission awarded the Provincial Government of Central Java, led by Ganjar Pranowo, an award for its consistent reports of corruption and gratification. The recognition came due to Ganjar's dedication in controlling the giving of gratuities to both governors and officials of the Central Java provincial government. Now, the Eid parcel culture doesn't even exist anymore in the Central Java Provincial Government.
Other reforms In 2016, Ganjar Pranowo launched a program to form disaster-resilient villages. The target is that by 2018 all of the 2204 disaster-prone villages in Central Java become disaster resilient. Ganjar Pranowo helped form 100 independent villages, mostly in areas that have the potential to become tourist destinations and deliver natural resources for community development.