United Development Party

United Development Party, moderate Islamist political party in Indonesia.

The PPP was formed in 1973 through the merger of four Islamic groups—the Council of Scholars (Nahdlatul Ulama), the Indonesian Islamic Party (Partai Muslimin Indonesia), the United Islamic Party of Indonesia (Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia), and the Muslim Teachers’ Party (Persatuan Tarbijah Islamijah)—in response to pressure from the government of President Suharto to simplify the country’s party system. The newly created party was deeply divided; following its first national congress in 1984, the United Islamic Party of Indonesia and the Council of Scholars, upset with the party’s leadership, left the PPP. The party’s influence initially declined as a result, but by the mid-1990s it had become one of Indonesia’s most powerful parties.

After Suharto was forced out of office in 1998, the PPP successfully campaigned to reduce the number of seats reserved for the military in the People’s Consultative Assembly (national legislature). The party had limited success at the polls, however, after the advent of democratic elections in 1999. It averaged some 10 percent of the vote in the first two parliamentary elections (1999 and 2004) but dropped to about 5 and 6 percent of the tally, respectively, in the 2009 and 2014 legislative contests. The PPP did exert some influence in the parliament by joining the ruling coalition in 2009 and the majority opposition coalition in 2014.