Masinton Pasaribu (born 11 February 1971) is an Indonesian politician from

PDI-P The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (, PDI-P) is a centre to centre-left secular-nationalist political party in Indonesia. Since 2014, it has been the ruling and largest party in the House of Representatives (DPR), having won 110 seats ...

and former activist who 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 ...

between 2014 and 2024. He is currently the regent of Central Tapanuli, serving since February 2025.

Early life

Pasaribu was born in the city of

Sibolga Sibolga (formerly sometimes Siboga) is a city and a port located in the natural harbour of Sibolga Bay on the west coast of North Sumatra province, in Indonesia. The city is located on the western side of North Sumatra facing the Indian Ocean, ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...

from a Batak background. After completing high school, he spent some time as a freelance laborer at the

Port of Belawan The Port of Belawan ( zh, t=勿老灣, s=, poj=mài lau ôan) is a harbor in Medan, North Sumatra. Located on the northeast coast of Sumatra, Belawan is Indonesia's busiest seaport outside of Java. It includes Medan Belawan District, the most nor ...

before moving to Jakarta to study law, graduating in 2003. During his time as a student, he was active in organisations protesting the

New Order New Order may refer to: Politics * ''L'Ordine Nuovo'' (''The New Order''), a socialist newspaper edited by Antonio Gramsci in the early 1920s * ''New Order in East Asia'', propaganda term for Japanese-dominated East Asia announced by Japanese ...

and took part in the 1998 protests which eventually led to the

fall of Suharto On 21 May 1998, Suharto resigned as president of Indonesia following protests and riots across the country against his regime. His vice president, B. J. Habibie, took over the presidency. Suharto's grip on power weakened following severe ...

. After graduating, he was also part of labor activism.

Political career

Pasaribu joined

, along with around 50 other activists, in 2004. There, he became one of the founders and served as chairman of REPDEM (, "Volunteers for Democratic Struggle"), which became one of PDI-P's wings. In the

2014 Indonesian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Indonesia on 9 April 2014 to elect 136 members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), 560 members of the People's Representative Council (DPR) and members of regional assemblies at the provincial and rege ...

, Pasaribu ran for a seat in 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 Jakarta's 2nd electoral district and won after securing 30,989 votes. In the body, he became part of the Third Commission on Law and Human Rights. After being reelected in 2019, he failed to win a seat in the 2024 election. He then ran in the local elections that year to become regent of Central Tapanuli, winning with 87,095 votes (54%). He was sworn in on 20 February 2025. During his time as regent, the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

assigned four small islands previously claimed by neighboring

Aceh Singkil Regency Aceh Singkil Regency () is a regency in the Aceh province of Indonesia. It is situated largely on the island of Sumatra, but also includes the offshore Banyak Islands, the largest of which is Tuangku (Great Banyak), with the principal town of ...

to Central Tapanuli, flaring up a dispute. He severely criticised then vice president

Jusuf Kalla Muhammad Jusuf Kalla (; born 15 May 1942), commonly referred to by his initials JK, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who served as the 10th and 12th vice president of Indonesia, the only vice president in Indonesian history to serve tw ...

in 2015, accusing him of being the source of various government issues. During an investigation into the

Corruption Eradication Commission The Corruption Eradication Commission (), abbreviated as KPK, is an Indonesian government agency established to prevent and fight corruption in the country. History Background Anti-corruption efforts began in Indonesia in the 1950s. Followin ...

(KPK), Pasaribu became the deputy chairman of the committee responsible for some time, until he was replaced. Pasaribu called #2019GantiPresiden movement a dishonest, political movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasaribu, Masinton Living people 1971 births Politicians from Jakarta People of Batak descent Indonesian Christians Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle politicians People from Sibolga Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 2014 Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 2019