Background
On 14 May 1998, around 50 political figures, including Goenawan Mohammad, Faisal Basri and Amien Rais established an organization called the Peoples Mandate Council (Indonesian: Majelis Amanat Rakyat, MARA) open to anybody who wanted to listen and express opinions. At the time, Amien Rais said that MARA would assess the performance of president Suharto's cabinet over the next six months. He also said that the people needed a strong forum that was respected by those in power and that the power structure under Suharto was not good at listening to people's opinions because it had become arrogant. At the time of the downfall of the Suharto regime in 1998, many new parties were being established and some of them wanted Amien Rais and other members of MARA to join them. One of these was the Crescent Star Party whose eventual leader Yusril Ihza Mahendra tried to persuade Amien Rais to establish a party. When he refused the offer, the party went its own way. On July 27 1998 (the day after the declaration of the creation of the Crescent Star Party), Amien Rais announced the establishment of a new party to be called the People's Mandate Party (Indonesian: Partai Amanat Bangsa, PAB). This was changed to the current name after a lengthy voting process. The new party had its roots in the principles of religious morality, humanity and prosperity
Read more about this topic: National Mandate Party
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