Since independence in 1945, Indonesia has held 12 general elections. One election was held during the Old Order era (1955), six during the New Order era (1971, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997), and five during the Reformasi era (1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019).
From the first election to the present, the Golongan Karya (Golkar) party has won the most elections.
According to records from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), from 1959 to 2019, Golkar won a majority vote in seven national elections:
* 1971 Election: Golkar received 62.80% of the national valid votes.
* 1977 Election: Golkar received 66.11%.
* 1982 Election: Golkar received 64.34%.
* 1987 Election: Golkar received 73.11%.
* 1992 Election: Golkar received 65.05%.
* 1997 Election: Golkar received 75.17%.
* 2004 Election: Golkar received 21.57%.
Of these seven victories, six were achieved during the New Order era. Since the Reformasi era, Golkar has only won once, in 2004.
After Golkar, there is the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).
Initially, the PDIP was part of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), formed in 1973. However, in 1993, the PDI split.
A faction of the PDI led by Megawati Soekarnoputri separated, then merged with the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), the Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo), the People's Deliberation Party (Murba), the Indonesian Independence Supporters Association (IPKI), and the Catholic Party.
This merger resulted in the PDIP, which began participating in elections from 1999, after President Soeharto resigned.
Since the Reformasi era, the PDIP has been the party that most frequently received the most votes in general elections:
* 1999 Election: PDIP received 33.70% of the national valid votes.
* 2014 Election: PDIP received 18.96%.
* 2019 Election: PDIP received 19.33%.
Besides Golkar and PDIP, only two other parties have ever won a general election: the PNI won once (1955 election, with 22.32% of the vote), and the Democratic Party won once (2009 election, with 20.81% of the vote).
Based on the above, the PNI was once the strongest political party in Indonesia during the Old Order era.
Then, the Golkar party became the strongest party throughout the New Order era, but its dominance declined after President Soeharto stepped down.
Entering the Reformasi era, the PDIP rose to become the strongest party until the 2019 election, although it was briefly overtaken by Golkar in the 2004 election, and by the Democratic Party in the 2009 election.