Golkar : a political party in Indonesia
Golkar The Party of the Functional Groups is a political party in Indonesia. Originally known as Sekber Golkar (Sekretariat Bersama Golongan Karya, or Joint Secretariat of Functional Groups), it was the ruling party from 1966 to 1999, under Suharto's New Order regime (1966-98) and the brief presidency of B. J. Habibie (1998-99). It has been a part of the ruling coalition of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling coalition since 2004. In 1959, President Sukarno introduced his concept of Guided Democracy, in which so-called functional groups would play a role in government in place of political parties. The Army supported this because it believed these groups would balance the growing strength of the Communist Party of Indonesia. In 1960, Sukarno awarded groups such as teachers, the Army, workers and artists seats in the Mutual Cooperation - People's Representative Council. As some of these functional groups were linked to political parties, this gave the army politi...