Pardede was born in Lumban Rau, Parsoburan, Balige, North Tapanuli Regency, Dutch East Indies (today located in Indonesia) on 20 January 1918.

[2][1] In 1945, during the Indonesian National Revolution, Pardede joined a nationalist youth brigade led by Wikana (the Angkatan Pemuda Indonesia, API); he seems to have been radicalized into left-wing politics during this period.

[2] Despite its conflict with the government, the PKI was never formally banned and emerged as an important force in the first legislative house of the newly unified Indonesia after the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference.

[2] As part of that political transition, in August 1950 Pardede was sent to Sumatra with Oloan Hutapea, a fellow Batak PKI member, to exclude people who had been loyal to the former leadership.

He held various party roles in this era, including Commissioner of the Central Committee for West Java in 1952, and head of the Greater Jakarta section in 1954.

Many of the figures who had been working together in 1945 were no longer on speaking terms; the gathering included former Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir, Sukarno confidante Chairul Saleh, Masyumi Party leader Isa Anshari, and journalists Rosihan Anwar and Mochtar Lubis.

In March and April 1958, in the political backdrop of a large regional rebellion by non-Communist forces in Sumatra (the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia), the PKI held the sixth plenary session of the executive committee and promoted Pardede and others to a newly enlarged party secretariat.

It was reconstituted again as the Mutual Cooperation House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Gotong Royong, DPR-GR) in what has become known as the Guided Democracy era which lasted until 1965.

[2] In August 1965, with rumours of Sukarno's declining health and a possible coup by conservative generals, senior members of the PKI including Pardede met in Jakarta to discuss their next move.

While many of the party leaders were killed (including Aidit, Lukman and Njoto), Pardede, Njono, and many lower-ranking figures were arrested and eventually put on trial in Mahmillub (Mahkamah Militer Luar Biasa, Extraordinary Military Tribunal) sessions.

[27] In addition, John Roosa, a historian of the failed coup, suggests that Pardede (along with a number of captured leaders) may have given information to the army after his arrest, under threat of torture or retaliation.