PAN puts together platform to please everyone<\/p>\n
The National Mandate Party (PAN) was once termed a \"rainbow\"
\norganization, campaigning for the June 7 elections on a platform
\nso wide-ranging as to be able to embrace just about everybody.
\nThe party's leaders talked to The Jakarta Post recently about
\ntheir vision, political and economic concepts -- and their
\npreparation for the polls.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A helicopter carrying PAN chairman Amien Rais
\nonce experienced engine trouble and was forced to land in the
\nmiddle of a paddy field on Madura Island. Villagers, rushing out
\nof their homes to surround the chopper, immediately recognized
\nAmien and showered him with warm greetings.<\/p>\n
In a setting far removed from the East Java hamlet, hundreds
\nof well-heeled \"cosmopolitans\" clapped politely in the ballroom
\nof a posh Jakarta hotel as PAN leaders one by one took their
\nplaces at the dais. Anyone watching carefully would have been
\nable to spot that Amien paused briefly just behind the half-
\nclosed door, as if for effect, before making an entrance to an
\nenthusiastic round of applause.<\/p>\n
\"It has to be admitted that Amien Rais is extremely popular.
\nHe is better known than the party,\" deputy chairman Abdillah Toha
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Chief public relation officer Miranti Abidin concurred that
\n\"even the residents of remote areas know Amien Rais\". She said
\nthe party's strategy was to lure rural voters with Amien's
\npopularity, but win over more educated urbanites with its
\nplatform.<\/p>\n
\"This party was born out of the reform movement,\" Abdillah
\nsaid. \"Our chairman is the person who has since 1993 dared to
\nspeak against all the devils who were running the country for 30
\nyears, who were fooling the people, corrupting the country and
\ncommitting various offenses.<\/p>\n
\"And Pak Amien had, since (Soeharto) was in power, spoken out
\nabout the need for succession. This is a party born out of the
\narena of reform that the university students initiated.\"<\/p>\n
Amien, who recently received his professorship in the School
\nof Social and Political Studies at Gadjah Mada University (UGM)
\nin Yogyakarta but immediately resigned from the civil servant
\npost in adherence with the law, is indeed among the party's most
\nimportant assets.<\/p>\n
It might not extend to the emotional loyalty found among
\nfollowers of Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), but the former chairman of
\nMuhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic organization
\nboasting 28 million followers, is the glue binding together the
\nparty's diverse supporters.<\/p>\n
Another uniting factor, according to deputy chairman K.
\nSindhunata, is the party's pluralistic outlook. The Chinese-
\nIndonesian assimilation campaigner, who is Protestant, joined the
\npredominately Muslim party precisely because of its stated
\npluralism.<\/p>\n
\"It's important for Indonesia's future that all elements in
\nsociety, regardless of their cultural, religious background or
\nethnicities, be involved,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The party, which now has 27 provincial chapters and 310
\nbranches at the regency level, also groups former dissident A.M.
\nFatwa, philosopher Toety Heraty, prominent Muslim scholar Dawam
\nRahardjo, director of the Institute for Interfaith Dialog Th.
\nSumartana, University of Indonesia economist Faisal Basri,
\nhistorian Taufik Abdullah, economist Christianto Wibisono and
\nactivist Pius Lustrilanang.<\/p>\n
Some may have hoped that Amien, after being courted by so many
\nMuslim groups, would eventually build an \"Islamic\" party. But on
\nAug. 23, 1998, amid much fanfare and with about 15,000 people on
\nhand in Jakarta, Amien declared the birth of a \"modern\" party
\nopen to all ethnicities and religions.<\/p>\n
To crowds wearing T-shirts bearing the blue sun logo and
\nchanting \"Amien, Amien\" and \"Allahu Akbar\" (Allah is Great),
\nAmien said the party would strive for \"sovereignty of the people,
\ndemocracy, progress and social justice.<\/p>\n
\"It respects and supports pluralism. The party is made up of
\nIndonesians representing different beliefs, schools of thought,
\nethnic origins, races, religions and genders\".<\/p>\n
Abdillah said: \"This party differs from the others. We are a
\nnonreligious party. Our underlying principle is not Islam or
\nanything else, but morality, humanity and pluralism.\"<\/p>\n
Some political observers, such as Lance Castles of Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity, have predicted a big win for PAN in the elections.
\nAnd Amien has never been shy about his intention to run for
\npresident. His team has even established a plan of action for the
\nfirst 100 days of the new government in the event of a PAN win.<\/p>\n
Again, the ambition to embrace everybody is displayed;
\nforemost among its programs is the establishment of a coalition
\nCabinet comprising various social and political groups.<\/p>\n
\"The Cabinet will comprise people who are skilled in their
\nfields of expertise, upright, without past shortcomings and with
\na clear commitment to the interests of the people,\" said
\nAbdillah.<\/p>\n
The party also plans to form a smaller Cabinet with 20
\nministries to ensure efficiency and coordination. It wishes to
\nspur a national reconciliation process and resolve problems in
\nregions beset by calls for separatism such as Aceh, Irian Jaya
\nand East Timor.<\/p>\n
In addition, the party wishes to gradually reduce the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) involvement in politics and the
\neconomy, and restore public trust in the military. It promises to
\nplace the police force under the Ministry of Home Affairs, while
\nthe position of the military commander would be placed under the
\ndefense minister.<\/p>\n
Abdillah said Megawati's PDI Perjuangan wanted Indonesia to
\nremain a unitary state, but PAN long entertained the possibility
\nof a federalist state.<\/p>\n
\"We believe unity does not necessarily mean we have to stay a
\nunitary state. We have opened discoursed on federalism ...
\nHowever, responses have been so far very emotional in nature,\" he
\nlamented.<\/p>\n
In addition, PAN strongly supports the notion to amend the
\n1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
The party also envisions a system that will activate the
\neconomy and which is oriented toward the interests of the people
\nto restore national and international confidence in Indonesia,
\n\"which is nonexistent now\", Abdillah said. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pan-puts-together-platform-to-please-everyone-1447893297",
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