The PKB was established on 11 May 1998. The Kyai, held a meeting at Pesantren Langitan to discuss several problems facing Indonesia deemed as critical. They developed an official statement, which Kyai members Muchid Muzadi of Jember and Gus Yusuf Muhammad, were sent to deliver to Soeharto, the. Before they were able to deliver the statement, however, Soeharto resigned on 23 May 1998. On 30 May 1998, the Kyai held a grand Istighosah in the office of the East Java Nahdlatul Ulama. The meeting resulted in KH Cholil Bisri being urged to form a party based on the NU's political aspirations. After initially resisting their request, due to his desire to continue his work with boarding schools, Bisri eventually relented and accepted the leadership role. A week later, on 6 June, Bisri met the Kyai in order to discuss the formation of the new party. Invitations had been sent via telephone, and more than 200 Kyai attended the meeting, which was held in Bisri's home in Leteh, Rembang, Central Java. This meeting resulted in the formation of the "Standing Committee", consisting of 11 people, with Bisri as chairman and Gus Yus as secretary. In turn, this committee worked in a marathon session, preparing a platform and party components, including the logos which would become the party's symbol. The logos were created by KH A. Mustofa Bisri. The Standing Committee and representatives of the NU held a major conference in Bandung, on 4 July 1998, which was attended by 27 regional representatives. In a discussion regarding the name of the organization, the proposed names were the "National Awakening Party", the "Party Kebangkitan Nahdlatul Ummah" and the "Ummah Party". The name chosen was "Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa" meaning "National Awakening Party". The party's declaratory was 72 people, representing the age of the NU organization, consisting of the Standing Committee Team, the Lajnah Assistance Team, Team NU, the NU Assistance Team, and two Representatives from each of the 27 regions. The 72 founders signed the Party's Platform and its components. Subsequent to this, however, the PBNU decided that only five people could become the party's declaratory. Those five were Kyai Munasir Ali, Kyai Ilyas Ruchiyat, Kyai Muchid Muzadi, KH A. Mustofa Bisri and KH Abddurahman Wahid, who was the chairman of the PBNU. The 72 names of the party's original declaratory were erased by the PBNU. The party's base of support is strongest in Java Island and draws from the constituency that formerly supported the conservative Muslim organization NU. The PKB differs from Nahdlatul Ulama in that while it supports a role for Islam in government, it does not share the older organization's support for an explicitly Islamic republic.
According to the party website, the party's policies are to:
Strengthen democracy to increase the prosperity of people living in villages
Strengthen the protection of farmers and fishermen
Accelerate the development of disadvantaged regions
Make labourers prosperous
Increase the involvement of women in strategic sectors
For the 2014 elections, the party plans to focus more intensively on its policies related to villages, in particular such as village representation, the allocation of funding for villages and the development of education and health facilities.
