I Gede Pasek Suardika

I Gede Pasek Suardika (born 21 July 1969) is an Indonesian lawyer and politician of the Nusantara Awakening Party (PKN) and its chairman between 2021 and 2023. He was a member of the People's Representative Council between 2009–2014 and the Regional Representative Council between 2014–2019. Before becoming PKN's chairman, Suardika was a member of the Democratic Party and was a member of the People's Conscience Party between 2016 and 2021.

Early life
Pasek was born on 21 July 1969 in Singaraja, Bali. His father, I Komang Alit, served as a police captain. He studied at elementary, middle and high schools in Singaraja. He then studied law, obtaining a bachelors at Brawijaya University and a masters at Udayana University.

Career
Before entering politics, Pasek worked as a journalist in Bali and in East Java. He was also a lawyer and political consultant, advising regional leader candidates in Balinese local elections. He campaigned for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the 2004 Indonesian presidential election. He was appointed to replace Jero Wacik as a Demokrat legislator in 2009, as Wacik was appointed a government minister. He chaired the council's Third Commission until 2013, when he was removed after attending the declaration of an organization founded by former Demokrat chairman Anas Urbaningrum. In January 2014, Demokrat fired him from the party due to "ethics violations", and attempted to replace him in the council. However, the body rejected Pasek's removal as it considered the removal illegal. Pasek continued to attend legislature meetings after the firing.

For the 2014 legislative election, Pasek ran as a member of the Regional Representative Council, and was elected as a senator to represent Bali. He joined the People's Conscience Party in December 2016. He was part of Joko Widodo's campaign team for the 2019 presidential election. In January 2020, he was appointed the party's secretary-general by chairman Oesman Sapta Odang. Pasek left the party in October 2021 to become chairman of the newly-founded Nusantara Awakening Party (PKN). PKN's founders were largely former Demokrat politicians affiliated with Anas Urbaningrum, along with some Hanura members.

By May 2023, Pasek stated that he intended to hand over the party's chairmanship to Anas upon Anas' completion of parole (Anas had been imprisoned for corruption charges in 2013 and was released on parole in April 2023) in July 2023. During a special party conference on 14 July 2023, Anas was appointed as the new chairman, while Pasek became chairman of the party's executive committee. In opening the conference, Pasek stated that he was "returning" Anas to becoming a chairman, referring to Anas' old position in Demokrat. In the 2024 Indonesian legislative election, Pasek is running as a candidate for the House of Representatives from the Bali electoral district.