Ginandjar Kartasasmita

Prof. Dr. Ir. Ginandjar Kartasasmita (born ) April 1941 in Bandung, West Java is an Indonesian politician. He served a five-year term (2004-2009) as Speaker of Indonesia Regional Representative Council (DPD-RI).

Ginandjar attended Kanisius high school in Jakarta for secondary education. He associated frequently with students of other nationalities and religious backgrounds. This association fueled Ginandjar's nationalism. After one year at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Bandung, West Java he was awarded a scholarship to study Chemical Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, where he studied from 1960 to 1965.

After returning home, Ginandjar worked in KOTI for one year. He worked as the General Director of AURI Research and Development, and in 1968 began his career as State Secretary. He is also a visiting professor at Waseda University.

Ginandjar has been active in politics since the 1970s when he sat in Suharto's cabinet. He has always called himself a nationalist, due to the influence of his parents who were both National Party of Indonesia (PNI) activists before World War II.

Ginandjar served as Minister of Mining, and Energy and State Minister of PPN/Head of Bappenas.

He has been attacked as a part of the "New Order," but argued that his membership in the cabinet was professional. Ginandjar commented, "I'm a part of the system, but I'm a professional in the cabinet."

Ginandjar finally succeed in winning the speaker of DPD in the Plenary Meeting of DPD in 2004. He was accompanied by Irman Gusman and La Ode Ida as the deputy chief.

Ginandjar played a role in encouraging Suharto to resign in May 1998 when he and other ministers refused to sit in the reformation cabinet to be formed by president Suharto. When it became clear that it would be very hard for Suharto to form a cabinet, the president chose to stand down in favour of his vice president B.J. Habibie.

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