Political Career Muhaimin Iskandar: From PMII Activists To Cawapres 2024

Illustration of Cak Imin (Between)

YOGYAKARTA Muhaimin Iskandar's political career did not start instantly. He reached his position as Chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and then ran as a candidate for vice president (cawapres) in 2024 accompanying Anises Baswedan who ran for president with full twists and turns.

Muhaimin Iskandar, who is familiarly called Cak Imin, is known as an activist involved in the country's political reforms in 1998. Cak Imin's political journey has started since he was a student. As if without obstacles, Cak Imin built his career in a neat and structured manner.

1. Starting from PMII

Long before the revormation, Cak Imin was an activist who was directly involved in the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII). PMII itself is a student organization that vocally voiced the voices of students, especially from the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) circles.

PMII also sparked Cak Imin's interest in politics. In fact, he had served as Chairman of PMII Yogyakarta for the period 1990 to 1997. PMII managed to lead Cak Imin to enter national politics in a relatively short time.

2. From PMII to PKB

After the collapse of the New Order regime, parties born included PKB. The party was founded to voice the aspirations of the NU community. From there Cak Imin was involved. PKB was then formed in 1998 by a number of figures, one of whom was Abdurrahman Wahid or known as Gus Dur. Cak Imin himself was appointed as the Secretary General of the party.

In the early period, the PKB journey was indeed quite brilliant. The party continues to reap the spotlight on the political stage of the country, one proof of this is the participation of PKB in the 1999 election. At that time PKB got a big vote even though it was a new party. In fact, the difference in votes obtained by PKB is no less distant than the two senior parties, namely the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and the Golkar Party.

3. Cak Imin to Senayan

Cak Imin's fate in the world of politics is also just right. The reason is, Muhaimin Iskandar was elected as a member of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) from PKB. Even Cak Imin was also Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives for the 1999-2004 period. This success was certainly quite a result of the spotlight considering that Cak Imin was a new person in politics in the country. Cak Imin was also the youngest leader in the DPR at that time.

Cak Imin's political career did not just stagnate. In the 2004 election, Cak Imin was once again elected as a member of the DPR with the position of Deputy Speaker of the DPR RI for the 2004-2009 period. And in the election after that, Cak Imin's superior voice could survive as a member of the DPR.

4. Become the General Chair of PKB

Cak Imin's position at PKB actually skyrocketed, from being the Secretary General of the PKB DPP for the period 2000-2005 then becoming the General Chair which was decided at the 2005 PKB Congress in Semarang. Unfortunately, there was an inaccuracy between Cak Imin and Gus Dur, who at that time served as Chairman of the PKB Syuro Council. Cak Imin's loyalty was questioned and led to the dismissal of Cak Imin. The internal PKB conflict then continued for several years later.

5. From Senayan to the Ministerial Chair

Cak Imin's agility in politics has succeeded in making President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) interested. Cak Imin is considered a competent figure so that SBY trusts Cak Imin to sit in the position of Minister of Manpower and Transmigration for the 2009-2014 period.

6. Cawapres 2024

Muhaimin Iskandar, who has served as chairman of the PKB until now, has finally run for vice president in the 2024 presidential election. He accompanied Anies Baswedan, who is the presidential candidate for Nasdem.

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