Habiburokhman (born 17 September 1974) is an Indonesian lawyer and politician of the

Gerindra Party The Great Indonesia Movement Party (), better known as the Gerindra Party, is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in Indonesia. Since 2014, it has been the third-largest party in the House of Representatives (DPR), having won 86 s ...

who has served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

since 2019 representing Jakarta I district. Prior to his election into the council, he was active in the 2014 and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

presidential campaigns of

Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and former four-star Indonesian Army, army general who is serving as the eighth and current president of Indonesia since 2024. He was previously t ...

, and the gubernatorial campaigns of

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

and

Anies Baswedan Anies Rasyid Baswedan (, born 7 May 1969) is an Indonesian academic, activist, and politician who served as the Governor of Jakarta from 2017 to 2022. A student activist and political analyst before entering public service, he served as the Recto ...

in Jakarta.

Early life and education

Habiburokhman was born in the city of

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

, in

Lampung Lampung, officially the Province of Lampung (; ), is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and a longer border with the provi ...

, on 17 September 1974. He remained in Lampung throughout most of his studies, graduating from a middle school in Metro and a high school in

Bandar Lampung Bandar Lampung ( Lampungese: ''Kutak Bandarlampung''; formerly Dutch: ''Oosthaven'', ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Lampung. Located on the southern tip of Sumatra, Bandar Lampung was originally called Tanjungka ...

before enrolling at Lampung University, obtaining a bachelors and a masters in law. He later obtained a doctorate in law from Sebelas Maret University in

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

in 2022.

Name

''Habiburokhman'' (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

:حبيبو رخمان, romanized: ''Habibu Rakhman'') is a name derived from the Arabic words ''

Habib Habib (; ; also romanized as Habeeb) is an Arabic masculine given name, occasional surname, and honorific, with the meaning "beloved" or "my love", or "darling". It also forms the famous Arabic word ''"Habibi"'' which is used to refer to a friend ...

'' and ''Ar- Rahman'', one of the

Names of God in Islam Names of God in Islam () are 99 names that each contain Attributes of God in Islam, which are implied by the respective names. These names usually denote his praise, gratitude, commendation, glorification, magnification, perfect attributes, ...

. Therefore, it carries the meaning "Friend of The Merciful", also spelled ''Habiburrahman''.

Legal career

He founded an advocacy office, Habiburokhman & Co., in

Menteng Menteng is a district () in the administrative city of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Menteng is surrounded by the districts of Senen and Matraman to the east, Tebet and Setiabudi to the south, Tanah Abang to the west, and Gambir to the north. ...

, Jakarta.

Political career

Habiburokhman joined

in 2010, and in 2012, he led an advocacy group which successfully campaigned for

's 2012 gubernatorial campaign. He then took part in

's 2014 presidential campaign as the campaign's advocacy director. In the leadup to the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, Habiburokhman campaigned for the

Sandiaga Uno Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (born 28 June 1969) is an Indonesian businessman, investor and politician who served as Ministry of Tourism (Indonesia), Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy from 2020 to 2024. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Govern ...

ticket, through the ''Advokat Cinta Tanah Air'' (ACTA) organization. In 2016, with Baswedan's primary competitor, incumbent governor

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (, Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Chûng Van-ho̍k''; born 29 June 1966) is an Indonesian businessman, politician, and former governor of Jakarta. He is colloquially known by his Hakka Chinese name, Ahok (). He was the first ethnic C ...

campaigning for an independent ticket requiring one million ID cards, Habiburokhman made a public bet that he would "jump from the top of

Monas The National Monument (, abbreviated Monas) is a 132 m (433 ft) obelisk in the centre of Merdeka Square, Jakarta, Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta. It is the national monument of the Republic of Indonesia, built to commemorate the Indon ...

" should Basuki succeed in collecting the ID cards. Habiburokhman later was lawyer for a slander case on behalf of demonstrators in November 2016, when Basuki stated in an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

interview that the demonstrators were paid. Along with ACTA, Habiburokhman filed a suit at the

Constitutional Court of Indonesia The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia () is one of the apex courts in Indonesia along with the Indonesian Supreme Court. Its primary role is reviewing the constitutionality of Acts (''undang-undang''). It also has other functi ...

in July 2017, requesting a judicial review of the electoral law of 2017. In particular, the suit challenged the presidential threshold clause in the law, which required a minimum number of political support for a presidential candidate to be approved. The suit was eventually rejected, the court citing that the clause was already in place for the 2014 presidential election. For the 2019 presidential election, Habiburokhman was a spokesperson for Prabowo's presidential campaign.

House of Representatives

Following the 2019 legislative election, Habiburokhman was elected into the

People's Representative Council The House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (, DPR-RI or simply DPR) is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the national legislature of Indonesia. It is considered the lower house, while th ...

from the Jakarta I district, winning 76,028 votes as the only Gerindra legislator from the district. Speaking to journalists, he remarked that he spent over Rp 1 billion (~USD 70,000) to campaign. He was sworn in as a legislator on 1 October 2019. Within the council, he was assigned to the Third Commission, later being appointed its deputy chairman following the 2023 death of

Desmond Junaidi Mahesa Desmond Junaidi Mahesa (12 December 1965 – 24 June 2023) was an Indonesian politician from Gerindra who served as a member of the People's Representative Council from 2009 until his death in 2023. Prior to his election to the People's Represen ...

. He was reelected for a second term in the 2024 election with 96,914 votes. Within Gerindra, Habiburokhman is a deputy chairman for the 2020–2025 tenure.

References

{{Members of People's Representative Council from Jakarta, 2019 1974 births Living people People from Metro (city) Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 2019 Sebelas Maret University alumni Lampung University alumni Indonesian lawyers Great Indonesia Movement Party politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 2024