Ganjar Pranowo's profile, from a retail gasoline trader to the PDI-P presidential candidate

Ganjar Pranowo's profile, from a retail gasoline trader to the PDI-P presidential candidate

The name Ganjar Pranowo was widely discussed by the public after the Chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri assigned Ganjar to run as a presidential candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres). 

Ganjar is not a new name touted in next year's presidential election contest. 

He topped the results of survey institutions several times, always in the top three in the electability of presidential candidates. 

However, his name that skyrocketed as a presidential candidate was not the result of a sleight of hand. He has a long political career and a bitter life story to get to this place. 

Ganjar's life story, for example, was born in Karanganyar on October 28, 1968 with an ordinary family profile. 

Quoted by Kompas.id, the Ganjar family can be called living in difficult economic conditions. His father, S Parmudji is a low ranking police officer, while his mother is a housewife. 

Ganjar grew up in Karanganyar. He studied at Public Elementary School 02 Tawangmangu, then moved to SDN 1 Kutoarjo on the grounds of his father's transfer of service. 

He was a teenager by studying at Kutoarjo 1 Public Junior High School which is now Kutoarjo 3 Middle School. 

It was when he was a teenager that Ganjar helped his mother sell retail gasoline at his mother's modest grocery store to help support the family's economy. 

Graduating from junior high school, teenage Ganjar continues his academic journey in Yogyakarta with the help of his eldest brother Kunto and sister-in-law, Ika. 

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He entered High School (SMA) 1 BOPKRI Yogyakarta. From here, Ganjar's activist spirit and leadership began to show. 

Ganjar was active in organizations, joined PMR, Scouts, including OSIS. After graduating from high school, he then decided to continue studying at the Faculty of Law, Gadjah Mada University. 

Ganjar's early political career

His love for the organization is increasingly visible when he is a student. 

He became a member of the student press, joined the Indonesian National Student Movement (GMNI), and was active as a nature lover student. 

While still a student, Ganjar also joined as a PDI-P cadre in 1992. He chose PDI-P because he saw it as the antithesis of President Suharto's regime. 

He then graduated with a law degree in 1995. Furthermore, Ganjar tried his luck as a human resource development (HR) consultant in a private company. 

He ended his professional career in consulting in 1999. Then, Ganjar established himself to pursue practical politics in 2002. 

At that time, Ganjar had the opportunity to become Deputy I of the PDI-Perjuangan Central Education and Training Agency (Badiklatpus). 

Ganjar also became a member of the Fundraising Division of the Central Election Winning Committee the following year. 

Start occupying public office

After two years of pursuing practical politics, Ganjar was assigned to become a member of the DPR-RI from the PDI-P faction for the 2004-2009 period. 

From here, his career flourished. As a member of the DPR RI for the opposition party, Ganjar is skilled at criticizing the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). 

In February 2005, Ganjar Pranowo, together with his colleague Agus Tjondro, issued a strong criticism to President SBY for not implementing Law Number 36 of 2004 concerning the 2005 State Budget (Kompas, 28/2/2005). 

Ganjar also doesn't hesitate to criticize the institution under which he resides, one example of which is when the DPR failed to agree on two materials in the Bill on Elections for Members of the DPR, DPD and DPRD in February 2008. 

Ganjar then returned to occupy a seat in the DPR in the 2009-2013 period. Here, he finalized his criticisms of the second term of SBY's leadership, one of which was his involvement in becoming the DPR's ad hoc team to investigate the Century Bank case. 

At the end of his tenure in the DPR, Ganjar was assigned by the PDI-P to advance in the election for the Governor of Central Java for the 2013-2018 period. 

At that time, Ganjar was paired with Heru Sudjatmoko who previously served as Regent of Purbalingga. 

He won with 48.82 percent of the votes of the people of Central Java, leaving the incumbent Bibit Waluyo-Sudijono Satroatmodjo who received 30.26 percent of the votes. 

Ganjar said, his victory was driven by three factors; solid and effective party strength, voluntary support, and a people's will for change. 

In the second regional election, Ganjar won 58.78 percent of the vote compared to his rivals Sudirman Said-Ida Fauziah. 

During his tenure in public office, Ganjar received a number of awards, including the 2013 Pataka Paramadhana Utama Nugraha Cooperative Award, Head of Innovative Region for the public service category in 2014. 

He is also a Central Java radio media figure (2015) and local government with the best level of compliance with state administrators' wealth reports (LHKPN) from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) 2017. 

Profil Ganjar Pranowo, dari Pedagang Bensin Eceran hingga Capres PDI-P

Nama Ganjar Pranowo ramai diperbincangkan publik setelah Ketua Umum Partai Demokrasi Indoensia Perjuangan (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri menugaskan Ganjar untuk maju sebagai calon presiden pada Pemilihan Presiden (Pilpres) 2024.

Ganjar bukanlah nama baru yang disebut-sebut dalam kontestasi Piplres tahun depan.

Ia beberapa kali memuncaki hasil lembaga survei, selalu masuk tiga besar dalam elektabilitas capres.

Namun, namanya yang melejit sebagai capres bukan hasil sulapan. Ia memiliki karier politik yang panjang dan kisah hidup yang getir untuk sampai ke tempat ini.

Kisah hidup Ganjar misalnya, lahir di Karanganyar pada 28 Oktober 1968 dengan profil keluarga yang biasa-biasa saja.

Dikutip Kompas .id, keluarga Ganjar bisa disebut hidup dalam kondisi ekonomi yang sulit. Ayahnya, S Parmudji adalah polisi berpangkat rendah, sedangkan ibunya merupakan ibu rumah tangga.

Ganjar tumbuh di Karanganyar. Ia mengenyam pendidikan di Sekolah Dasar Negeri 02 Tawangmangu, kemudian sempat pindah ke SDN 1 Kutoarjo dengan alasan perpindahan dinas ayahnya.

Ia beranjak remaja dengan mengenyam pendidikan di Sekolah Menengah Pertama Negeri 1 Kutoarjo yang kini menjadi SMPN 3 Kutoarjo.

Saat remaja inilah, Ganjar sempat membantu ibunya berjualan bensin eceran di toko kelontong sederhana milik ibunya untuk membantu perekonomian keluarga.

Lulus SMP, Ganjar remaja melanjutkan perjalanan akademiknya di Yogyakarta dengan bantuan kakak tertuanya Kunto dan kakak iparnya, Ika.

Ia masuk Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA) 1 BOPKRI Yogyakarta. Dari sini, jiwa aktivis dan kepempimpinan Ganjar mulai terlihat.

Ganjar aktif berorganisasi, masuk PMR, Pramuka, termasuk OSIS. Lulus SMA, ia kemudian memantapkan diri melanjutkan kuliah di Fakultas Hukum Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Awal karier politik Ganjar

Kecintaannya terhadap organisasi semakin terlihat saat berstatus sebagai mahasiswa.

Dia menjadi anggota pers mahasiswa, masuk dalam Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia (GMNI), dan aktif sebagai mahasiswa pecinta alam.

Saat masih jadi mahasiswa itu pula Ganjar bergabung sebagai kader PDI-P di tahun 1992. Ia memilih PDI-P karena dinilainya sebagai antitesis dari rezim Presiden Soeharto.

Ia kemudian lulus bergelar sarjana hukum pada 1995. Selanjutnya, Ganjar mencoba peruntungan sebagai konsultan pengembangan sumber daya manusia (SDM) di sebuah perusahaan swasta.

Karier profesionalnya di bidang konsultan dia setop di tahun 1999. Kemudian, Ganjar memantapkan diri menekuni politik praktis pada tahun 2002.

Ganjar saat itu mendapat kesempatan menjadi Deputi I Badan Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Pusat (Badiklatpus) PDI-Perjuangan.

Ganjar juga menjadi anggota Bidang Penggalangan Panitia Pemenangan Pemilu Pusat pada tahun berikutnya.

Mulai tempati jabatan publik

Setelah dua tahun menekuni politik praktis, Ganjar ditugaskan menjadi anggota DPR-RI dari Fraksi PDI-P periode 2004-2009.

Dari sini, kariernya moncer. Sebagai anggota DPR RI partai oposisi, Ganjar lihai mengkritik pemerintahan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

Pada Februari 2005, Ganjar Pranowo, bersama rekannya Agus Tjondro menggulirkan kritik keras kepada Presiden SBY karena dianggap tidak melaksanakan UU Nomor 36 Tahun 2004 tentang APBN tahun 2005 (Kompas, 28/2/2005).

Ganjar juga tak ragu mengkritik lembaga tempatnya bernaung, salah satu contohnya adalah ketika DPR berlarut-larut gagal menyepakati dua materi dalam RUU Pemilu Anggota DPR, DPD, dan DPRD pada Februari 2008.

Ganjar kemudian kembali menduduki kursi DPR pada periode 2009-2013. Di sini, dia mematangkan kritikan periode kedua kepemimpinan SBY, salah satunya terlibat menjadi tim ad hoc DPR untuk mengusut kasus Bank Century.

Habis masa jabatannya di DPR, Ganjar ditugaskan PDI-P maju dalam pemilihan Gubernur Jawa Tengah periode 2013-2018.

Saat itu, Ganjar dipasangkan dengan Heru Sudjatmoko yang sebelumnya menjabat sebagai Bupati Purbalingga.

Dia menang dengan suara 48,82 persen rakyat Jawa Tengah, meninggalkan petahana Bibit Waluyo-Sudijono  Satroatmodjo yang memperoleh 30,26 persen suara.

Kata Ganjar, kemenangannya didorong tiga faktor; kekuatan partai yang solid dan efektif, dukungan sukarela, dan kehendak masyarakat yang ingin perubahan.

Pada Pilkada periode keduanya, Ganjar menang 58,78 persen suara dibandingkan pesaingnya Sudirman Said-Ida Fauziah.

Selama menjabat di jabatan publik itu, Ganjar mendapat sejumlah penghargaan, di antaranya Anugerah Pataka Paramadhana Utama Nugraha Koperasi 2013, Kepala Daerah Inovatif untuk kategori layanan publik di tahun 2014.

Ia juga menjadi tokoh media radio Jawa Tengah (2015) dan pemerintah daerah dengan tingkat kepatuhan laporan harta kekayaan penyelenggara negara (LHKPN) terbaik dari Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) 2017.