Gandung Pardiman

Gandung Pardiman was born on 25 February 1953 in Bantul, in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. According to his official parliamentary profile, he attended SDN Karangtengah, finishing primary school in 1967, then SMP Negeri 1 Imogiri and SMA Negeri 1 Bantul, from which he graduated in 1973.

He went on to study social science education at IKIP Veteran Yogyakarta, the institution now known as the Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Yogyakarta, earning the Drs. degree. Later, while already active in politics, he completed a master's degree in management at STIE Mitra Indonesia in 2001.

Pardiman began his working life as a teacher. He taught at several junior high schools, served as head of SMP Kartika V in Ponjong, Gunungkidul, and lectured at IKIP Veteran Yogyakarta.

His political career was built inside the Golkar Party. He was secretary of Golkar's Gunungkidul board from 1992 to 1997 and secretary of its Yogyakarta provincial board from 1999 to 2004. He then chaired the Gunungkidul board from 2004 to 2005 and the provincial board from 2005 to 2025, making him one of the party's longest-serving regional leaders. From 2004 to 2009 he was deputy speaker of the Yogyakarta Regional House of Representatives (DPRD DIY).

In the 2009 general election he won a seat in the national House of Representatives for the Special Region of Yogyakarta and was assigned to Commission VII, which oversaw energy, mineral resources and industry. He lost his seat in 2014, but on 26 July 2018 he returned to parliament through the interim replacement mechanism, taking the seat vacated by Titiek Soeharto. He won re-election in 2019 with 65,535 votes and again in 2024 with 94,777 votes, continuing on Commission VII, which in the 2024 to 2029 term covered industry, small and medium enterprises and public information.

Outside parliament he chaired the Yogyakarta branch of the Musyawarah Kekeluargaan Gotong Royong (MKGR), a mass organisation linked to Golkar, from 2021, chaired the Bantul regional sports committee (KONI Bantul) from 2023, and led the Yogyakarta branch of Gepako from 2020 to 2023.

Pardiman made his home in Kerjo, Genjahan, in the Ponjong district of Gunungkidul, where he had once been a school head. His son Syarief Guska Laksana followed him into Golkar politics and chairs the party's group in the Yogyakarta regional legislature. Guska, his second child, spoke for the family after his death. Pardiman had prepared his own family grave in Ponjong while he was still in good health.

Pardiman was admitted to Panti Rapih Hospital in Yogyakarta on Friday 23 October 2026 with a fever. His son said his condition improved by Sunday 25 October but deteriorated in the early hours of Tuesday 27 October, and he died in the hospital's intensive care unit at about 10 in the morning local time, aged 73. Golkar secretary general Sarmuji confirmed the death and said he had been ill for some time but had stayed active when his health allowed. No specific cause of death was made public.

Golkar's central board posted a condolence message saying his service and dedication would always be remembered. Thousands of mourners went to the family home in Ponjong, Gunungkidul, where wreaths were sent by figures including Aburizal Bakrie, Titiek Soeharto, Bambang Wuryanto and GKR Hemas. After funeral prayers at a nearby prayer house, he was buried at 5pm on 27 October in the family cemetery about 100 metres from his home, in a grave he had prepared himself.

For two decades Pardiman was the face of Golkar in Yogyakarta, leading its provincial board from 2005 to 2025 and carrying the party's banner in national elections for the region. His path, from village schoolteacher and school head in Gunungkidul to a four-term member of the national parliament, was rooted in the communities he represented, and his son now continues the family's work in the regional legislature.