Future strategy for the Prosperous Justice Party<\/p>\n
Last year at a Symposium at Harvard University, I was able to
\ndescribe PKS's campaign in the general elections, based on its
\nprogram to promote justice and good governance and to stamp out
\ncorruption, and its resulting electoral success. I then went on
\nto write the following:<\/p>\n
"To some, the rise of the Prosperous Justice Party will be
\nseen as an ominous political development. It is potentially,
\nhowever, a fortunate development... As a participant in the
\npolitical process, the new Prosperous Justice Party must endeavor
\nto deliver on what it promises or suffer the loss its adherents.
\nThe full participation of the Party in the democratic process
\noffers a model for the future."<\/p>\n
I wrote these words in genuine recognition of the potential
\nthat PKS has to offer. Today I would like to address you as
\nmembers of a political party and as intellectuals. As members of
\na political party, you have to be ruthlessly realistic; as
\nintellectuals, you must maintain your idealism and vision.<\/p>\n
To begin with, realism is essential. Seven percent of the
\nnational vote is no guarantee of a political future. Growing this
\nnumber to 15 percent or even 21 percent by the next election may
\nbe within the realm of possibility. Going beyond that to a
\nmajority vote will be -- to put it bluntly -- very difficult
\nindeed. An alternate strategy would need to be based on a
\ncoalition of parties, with a general congruence of objectives.<\/p>\n
Dr. Greg Fealy at the ANU has recently compiled the voting
\nresults for Muslim parties at every Indonesian election since
\n1955. The evidence is clear: no single Muslim Party has ever
\nsucceeded in gaining 21 percent of the national vote. In 1955,
\nMasyumis achievement was to gain 20.9 percent of the national
\nvote; by comparison, NU has twice -- in 1955 and in 1971 --
\nattained just over 18 percent of the vote. More significantly
\nstill, it is evident from the figures from past elections, that
\nthe total vote for Muslim parties as a whole has never approached
\na majority in Indonesia. In 1955, this total was 43.9 percent
\nwhereas in the recent election in 2004, this total came to 38.3
\npercent.<\/p>\n
It is this historical reality that PKS must recognize and
\nrespond to if it is to succeed. Here I believe there are ways of
\nlooking at the history of Islam in Indonesia and learning from
\nit. I would invite you as intellectuals to engage in a
\nhypothetical exercise from which one may be able draw lessons for
\nthe future. By looking back, it may be possible to look forward.<\/p>\n
Let us return for a moment to the early years of the previous
\ncentury. In 1909, a graduate of OSVIA, Tirtoadisurjo, founded the
\norganization known as Sarekat Dagang Islamiyah. With the support
\nof Haji Samanhudi, that organization was transformed into Sarekat
\nDagang Islam in 1911 and then under the leadership of H.O.S.
\nTjokroaminoto, another graduate of OSVIA, Sarekat Dagang Islam
\nbecame Sarekat Islam. By 1913, this organization -- or rather its
\nseparate branches -- had received recognition by the colonial
\nauthorities.<\/p>\n
In 1914, Semaun introduced strong leftist influences into
\nSarekat Islam while the following year, in 1915, Haji Agus Salim
\nintroduced a commitment to Islamic reform within the context of
\nPan-Islam. By 1919, Sarekat Islam claimed to have a membership of
\ntwo million members.<\/p>\n
Sarekat Islam at this crucial point was an amalgam of
\ndifferent tendencies, both social and religious with separate
\norientations that looked either left or right. Its many branches
\nwere moving in different directions under their separate leaders.<\/p>\n
Eventually, it split into a "Red Sarekat Islam" and a "White
\nSarekat Islam". Tan Malaka struggled to wield these two factions
\nto a common purpose but without success. So by 1923, when Partai
\nSarekat Islam was established, one of its chief obsessions was to
\nchallenge Red Sarekat Islam branches wherever they were to be
\nfound.<\/p>\n
I have simplified a complex historical period and glossed
\nother political stirrings of the period, for a purpose: to ask
\nyou to ponder what might have happened in Indonesia, if Sarekat
\nIslam had been able to hold together as a single broad-based
\nIslamic party.<\/p>\n
Under these circumstances, Indonesia's political history would
\nhave been transformed. A Muslim party would have had the
\ndetermining influence in the national struggle for Independence
\nand that party would have shaped the founding principles of the
\nnew nation. Disputes such as those over the Jakarta Charter
\nwould hardly have arisen.<\/p>\n
Almost certainly external influences would have given rise to
\na Communist Party but a broadly based Muslim party setting a
\nmainstream agenda could have co-opted the thrust from such a
\nparty. The Army would not have been required to form a bulwark
\nagainst the communists and the debacle of 1965 might never have
\noccurred. A separatist movement like Darul Islam might have
\narisen but again such a movement would have been marginal to the
\nmain agenda of the nation. At its outset, Sarekat Islam gave
\nstrong support to Muslim traders and businessmen and one could
\nassume that this agenda would have continued, if Sarekat Islam
\nhad held together.<\/p>\n
Imaging is an intellectual exercise and I have invited you to
\nindulge in this exercise to make a point. In politics, party
\nunity is critical. A party can build this unity on internally
\ncompeting tendencies and groupings and is probably richer as a
\nparty because of its internal diversity whereas allowing
\ndifferent factions to fracture party unity can only lead to
\npolitical marginalization.<\/p>\n
A party committed to good governance and a concern for society
\ncan occupy the mainstream of politics on the basis of -- and
\nwithout comprising -- fundamental Islamic principles but it must
\ncarefully channel its internal debates toward achieving its long
\nterm agenda and systematically demonstrate its credentials.<\/p>\n
If you were to ask me, can PKS rewrite the previous patterns
\nof Indonesia's political history, I could only answer at this
\nstage that it is far too early to know. Imaging a goal is the
\nfirst and easiest step in this process. Determining the various
\nmeans to achieve that goal, thus intelligently defining and
\nengaging with issues of good governance and economic development
\nis the next step in this process.<\/p>\n
From the outside, PKS appears to be something both new and
\ndifferent. It possesses a remarkable organizational structure and
\nsubstantial internal discipline, but its current agenda is by no
\nmeans clear. On almost all policy aspects of modern governance,
\nPKS's views remain to be articulated in sufficient detail to be
\nconsidered credible.<\/p>\n
Clear policies on health, education, the environment,
\nagriculture, communications or investment are just a few of
\nmatters of governance that any party in the 21st century should
\nbe involved in formulating and debating if it is to gravitate to
\nthe mainstream of politics.<\/p>\n
Among Indonesian political parties, PKS is remarkably endowed
\nwith the intellectual and technical talent to form 'policy
\nworking groups' to consider and formulate ideas on the range of
\nmodern governance essential to the future of Indonesia. This is
\nthe most pressing task for the immediate future of the party if
\nit is to develop its constituency. PKS has the capacity to do
\nthis, even as it debates the broad principles on which it is
\nconstituted.<\/p>\n
Let me make one final point. Islam is in one of its greatest
\ncreative periods and Indonesia is a focal point for this
\ncreativity. I would hope PKS is able to call on the full spectrum
\nof this creativity in formulating viable ideas on governance
\nwithin an Islamic context. PKS has the potential to provide a
\nmodel for the future.<\/p>\n
James J. Fox is a professor at the Australian National
\nUniversity and Director of its Research School of Pacific and
\nAsian Studies. This paper is presented at a seminar on PKS on
\nMonday.<\/p>",
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