Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle

PDI-P was by far the most popular political party coming into the 1999 legislative elections. With 33% of the votes, PDI-P emerged with the largest share. As the 1999 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session loomed closer, it was expected that PDI-P would once again play the dominant role. Despite winning the legislative elections, PDI-P did not have absolute majority. Despite this, however, PDI-P never formed a coalition with any of the other political parties in the lead-up to the 1999 MPR General Session. The closest PDI-P had to a coalition was a loose alliance with Abdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening Party (PKB).

The presidency looked set to be contested by Megawati and the then incumbent BJ Habibie of Golkar who was looking for a second term. However, MPR Chairman Amien Rais had other ideas as he formed a coalition called the Central Axis which consisted of Muslim parties. Amien also announced that he would like to nominate Wahid as president. PKB, their alliance with PDI-P never cemented, now moved over to the Central Axis. Golkar then joined this coalition after Habibie's accountability speech was rejected and he withdrew from the race. It came down to Megawati and Wahid. Wahid, with a powerful coalition backing him, was elected as Indonesia's 4th president with 373 votes to Megawati's 313. The PDI-P supporters were outraged. As the winners of the legislative elections, they also expected to win the presidential elections. PDI-P masses began rioting in cities such as Jakarta, Solo and Medan. The normally peaceful Bali was also involved in pro-Megawati protests. Wahid then realized that there was a need to recognize PDI-P's status as the winners of the Legislative Elections. With that, he encouraged Megawati to run for the vice presidency.

Megawati rejected this offer when she saw that she had to face opponents such as United Development Party's (PPP) Hamzah Haz and Golkar's Akbar Tanjung and Wiranto. After some politicking by Wahid, Akbar and Wiranto withdrew from the race. Wahid also ordered PKB to throw their weight behind Megawati. She was now confident and competed in the vice presidential elections, and was elected with 396 votes to Hamzah's 284.

The First PDI-P Congress was held in Semarang, Central Java in April 2000, during which Megawati was re-elected as the chairperson of PDI-P for a second term. The congress was noted as one where she consolidated her position within PDI-P by taking harsh measures to remove potential rivals.[13] During the election for the chairperson, two other candidates emerged, Eros Djarot and Dimyati Hartono. Both ran because they did not want Megawati to hold the PDI-P chairpersonship while concurrently being Vice President.

For Eros, when finally received his nomination from the South Jakarta branch, membership problems arose and made his nomination void. He was then not allowed to go and participate in the congress. Disillusioned with what he perceived to be a cult of personality developing around Megawati, Eros left PDI-P and in July 2002, formed the Freedom Bull National Party. For Dimyati, although his candidacy was not opposed as harshly as Eros', he was removed from his position as Head of PDI-P's Central Branch. He kept his position as a People's Representative Council (DPR) member but retired in February 2002. In April 2002, Dimyati formed the Our Homeland of Indonesia Party (PITA).

Although it had not supported Wahid for presidency, PDI-P members received ministerial positions in his cabinet because of Megawati's position as vice president. As time went on, much like the Central Axis that had supported Wahid, PDI-P would grow disillusioned with him. In April 2000, Laksamana Sukardi, a PDI-P member who held position as Minister of Investments and State Owned Enterprises was sacked from his position. When PDI-P enquired as to why this was done, Wahid claimed it was because of corruption but never backed up his claim.

The relationship improved somewhat when later in the year, when Wahid authorized Megawati to manage the day-to-day running of the government. However, she and PDI-P had slowly but surely started to distance themselves from Wahid and join forces with the Central Axis. Finally, in July 2001 at a Special Session of the MPR, Wahid was removed as president. Megawati was then elected as president to replace him with Hamzah as her vice president, becoming Indonesia's first female president. They party, however, faced further splits after Megawati became president with more disillusioned members leaving the party. Two of them were Megawati's own sisters. In May 2002, Sukmawati Sukarnoputri formed the Indonesian National Party Marhaenism (PNI-Marhaenisme). This was followed in November 2002, with Rachmawati Sukarnoputri declaring the formation of the Pioneers' Party (PP).

By 2004, the reformist sentiments that had led PDI-P to victory in the 1999 elections had died down. Many were disappointed with what the reform process had achieved thus far and were also disappointed with Megawati's presidency. This was reflected in the 2004 legislative election, PDI-P obtained 18.5% of the total vote, down from the 33.7% it obtained in 1999.[14]

PDI-P nominated Megawati as its presidential candidate for the 2004 presidential election. Several running mates were considered, including Hamzah Haz (to renew the partnership), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), and Jusuf Kalla. Megawati eventually selected Nahdatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi as her running mate. It was expected that she would appeal to nationalist sentiments while Hasyim would appeal to Islamist voters. In the first round of elections, the pairing came second to SBY/Kalla. To improve their chances in the run-off, the PDI-P formed a coalition with the PPP, Golkar, the Reform Star Party (PBR) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) in August 2004. However, they were defeated in the run-off against SBY/Kalla. The National Coalition then turned their eyes on being the opposition in the DPR for the SBY/Kalla government. With Kalla's election as chairman of Golkar, Golkar defected to the government's side, leaving the PDI-P as the only major opposition party in the DPR.

On 28 March 2005, the second PDI-P Congress was held in Sanur, Bali where Megawati was re-elected to the chairpersonship for a third term. Her brother, Guruh Sukarnoputra, was chosen as head of the party's Education and Culture department. This congress was noted for the formation of a faction called the Renewal of PDI-P Movement. It called for a renewal of the party leadership if it was to win the 2009 legislative elections. Although they attended the Congress, the members left once Megawati was re-elected. In December 2005, these same members would form the Democratic Renewal Party (PDP).

The party came third in the 2009 legislative election with 14% of the votes. It had 95 seats in the DPR.[15] Megawati was chosen as the presidential candidate, this time with a coalition between the Great Indonesia Movement Party and PDI-P themselves, with Prabowo Subianto as her running mate. They lost to SBY, with Boediono as vice-president, who won 26.6% of the vote.

In March 2014, the party nominated Jakarta governor Joko Widodo as its presidential candidate, with Jusuf Kalla as his running mate. The pairing won with 53.15% of the vote,[16] and PDI-P returned as the largest party in the DPR, winning nearly 19% of the vote.[17]

In April 2019, incumbent president Joko Widodo was the party's presidential candidate running for a second term, with Ma'ruf Amin as his running mate. Widodo won successful won a second term with 55.50% of the vote.[18] PDI-P remained the largest party in the DPR, winning 19.33% of the vote.[19]

Amidst preparation to compete in the 2024 Indonesian general election, the party experienced a split into two factions. Younger PDI-P generation cadres expressed their distaste for Puan Maharani (the preferred candidate by older generation cadres of the party). They favoured Ganjar Pranowo, who, despite being popular, asserted that he doesn't intend to be a presidential candidate.[20][21] On 9 October 2021, Bambang Wuryanto, Chief of PDI-P Central Java Regional Branch, delivered an adage that party cadres, officials, and officers must follow one command from the higher command, the "Banteng" (Javanese of "Bulls") command, which supported Maharani. For those who do not support her, he called them "Celeng" (Javanese of "Wild Boars").[22] In response to Wuryanto's adage, young PDI-P cadres reacted strongly over it and launched Barisan Celeng Berjuang (English: Movement of Struggling Boars) campaign on 12 October 2021 against Wuryanto and the central leadership of PDI-P, who they believe are unrealistic for pushing Maharani as a candidate.[23][24][25] The movement also launched a flag, which satirized the PDI-P flag and has an inverted colour scheme (Black Bull in Red Flag for PDI-P, and Red Boar in Black Flag for Barisan Celeng Berjuang), as a sign of defiance against the central command of PDI-P.[26][27]

As the result of the faction rivalry, on 15 October 2021, all involved cadres from both sides are sanctioned by the PDI-P central committee for attempting to bypass the party's central leadership decision-making process. The central committee reasserted that it is only Megawati who may decide the official presidential nominee of the party. The central committee also asked the cadres to cease the rivalry.[28]

Election	Ballot number	Candidate	Running mate	1st round (Total votes)	Share of votes	Outcome	2nd round (Total votes)	Share of votes	Outcome
2004	2	Megawati Sukarnoputri	Hasyim Muzadi	31,569,104	26.61%	Runoff	44,990,704	39.38%	Lost N
2009	1	Megawati Sukarnoputri	Prabowo Subianto	32,548,105	26.79%	Lost N
2014	2	Joko Widodo[34]	Jusuf Kalla	70,997,833	53.15%	Elected Y
2019	1	Joko Widodo	Ma'ruf Amin	85,607,362	55.50%	Elected Y

Note: Bold text indicates party member