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.

[24] 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.

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.

[25][26] 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.

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.

Fresh-faced, folksy, and articulate, former student protester Ganjar Pranowo quickly rose in popularity as a politician who has the gift of speaking to the public and media.

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.

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.

[34] 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.

[35] 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.

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.

[36][37][38] 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.

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.

[39] 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.

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.

[43] In the health sector, Ganjar Pranowo has planned the construction of an international standard modern hospital at MAJT (Central Java Grand Mosque).

[46] Ganjar has also stepped up efforts to reduce stunting and maternal and infant mortality, and launched a campaign to prevent early marriage, which is widespread in the province.

[40] Ganjar Pranowo ran for re-election in 2018 with a strategy of expanding his nationalist-based vote bank by including conservative Muslims through a young running mate from the Islamist United Development Party (PPP) Taj Yasin Maimoen [id].

[54] This resulted in rising tensions with Puan Maharani and the chairman of the PDI-P Election Winning Body (Bappilu) Bambang Wuryanto [id], culminating in 2021, when Ganjar Pranowo was not invited to an important PDIP event in Central Java.

[65] In his first term in the DPR, Ganjar attracted media coverage because his name was included in a copy of a document that revealed the flow of Bank Indonesia funds to legislators in April 2008.

[67] Former KPK investigator Novel Baswedan in October 2022 said there was no evidence that Ganjar Pranowo, who at that time was Governor of Central Java, was involved in the e-KTP corruption case.

[75] Ganjar Pranowo on 27 April 2014 caught public attention when he expressed his anger at local officers who extorted truckers during a surprise inspection at the Subah weighbridge in Batang Regency.

[79] Ganjar Pranowo became a target of protest from farmers who opposed his environmental permit for the activities of the national cement company Semen Indonesia Group in Rembang Regency through a demonstration in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta.

The community eventually succeeded to limit the activities of the cement factory construction after the Supreme Court on 2 August 2016 issued a judicial review decision that dismissed the environmental permit.

[84] Amid resident insistence that the factory should be shut down after the Supreme Court ruling, Ganjar Pranowo stated that his administration would do so only under the order of the central government.

[86] Under heavy public pressure, Ganjar Pranowo on 17 January 2017 canceled his previous addendum and decided to postpone the process of establishing the factory in Rembang until a permit decree was issued in adjustment to the Supreme Court decision.

Sinar Suprabana, a Central Java academic, argued that Pranowo's statements in the interview were unethical and that it was "better for him to keep his mouth shut and take steps to improve himself" than "provide clarification".

[104] Akhmad is a Nahdlatul Ulama leader from Purbalingga, Central Java, and was the son of Hisyam Abdul Karim, the founder of Roudlotus Sholihin Islamic Boarding School in Sokawera Hamlet, Kalijaran Village.

[104] They first met in 1994, during Kuliah Kerja Nyata (literally Student Study Service; KKN) at Gadjah Mada University when they are assigned in a same group and then went on a date together by riding a bicycle from Bantul to Pogoh.