The National People's Party ( , PRN) was a nationalist political party in Indonesia. The party was initially called Indonesian National Party - Merdeka ('Freedom'), and was formed in July 1950 after a split within the Indonesian National Party (PNI). The divisions with the PNI had appeared at the party congress in May the same year, when Sidik Djojosukarto's followers (whom the founders of PNI-Merdeka/PRN opposed) had emerged victorious (after the split the PNI labelled the PRN as 'right-wing' and 'capitalistic'). Dr. Djody Gondokusomo was the chairman of the party.

PRN had 10 seats in the People's Representative Council, five from the Republic of the United States of Indonesia and five from BFO. Abdullah Aidit, one of the PRN parliamentarians, was the father of the Communist Party leader D.N. Aidit. In October 1950, a vote of confidence was held in the DPR towards the Natsir cabinet. PRN supported the Natsir cabinet in the confidence vote, the sole parliamentary group not represented in the government to do so. Later in the same month, the party adopted the name PRN.

As of 1951 the party claimed to have two million members, although that figure was probably highly inflated.

In March 1951 the party joined the Consultative Body of Political Parties, a broad coalition that soon became non-functional.

When the first Ali Sastroamidjojo cabinet was formed in 1953, the PRN leader Dr. Djody Gondokusomo was named Minister of Justice. In November 1953 he was joined the PRN politician I Gusti Gde Rake, who became Minister of Agrarian Affairs.

In the 1955 parliamentary election, PRN got 242,125 votes (0.6% of the national vote), and got two seats in the DPR (down from 13 that the party had before the dissolution of the Council). After the election the PRN joined the National Progressive Fraction, a body of ten MPs from Java.

In 1956 the party suffered a split, as there was a division between the Javanese leadership (loyal to Dr. Gondokusomo) and a group of non-Javanese leaders (a headed by Bebasa Daeng Lalo). The Bebasa Daeng Lalo-faction counted on the support of two PRN ministers in the Burhanuddin Harahap cabinet, F. Laoh and Gunawan.

In late 1956 the PRN supported President Sukarno's konsepsi, introduction of Guided Democracy in Indonesia.

Women's wing

The women's wing of PRN was known as Wanita Nasional ('National Woman'). As of 1960, Wanita Nasional claimed to have 90 branches.

References

1. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 491
2. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. pp. 128, 189
3. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 153
4. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 144
5. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 125
6. Feith, Herbert. The Wilopo Cabinet, 1952-1953: A Turning Point in Post-Revolutionary Indonesia. Ithaca, N.Y.: Modern Indonesia Project, Southeast Asia Program, Dept. of Far Eastern Studies, Cornell University, 1958. p. 102
7. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. pp. 338-339
8. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 435
9. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 472
10. Feith, Herbert. The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta [u.a.]: Equinox, 2007. p. 543-544
11. Martyn, Elizabeth. The women's movement in post-colonial Indonesia: gender and nation in a new democracy. London [u.a.]: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. p. 219