New Islamic parties attempt to cater for all tastes

New Islamic parties attempt to cater for all tastes

By Hery Nurdi

JAKARTA (JP): "I want to vote for an Islamic party, but I
don't know which one to choose because there are at least twelve
which claim to be Islamic," a taxi driver complained recently.

The driver was correct, but there are also a number of other
parties which do not claim to be Islamic but which use Islamic
attributes to lure voters. Parties with an Islamic leaning are
detailed below.

Islamic Community Party (PUI)

Chaired by Deliar Noer, a political professor who was once a
speech writer for Soeharto but later became a staunch critic.
This was the first party to declare itself Islamic, one month
after Soeharto's resignation on May 21. It does not strive to
establish an Islamic state, considering supremacy of the law to
be more important for the establishment of a just and prosperous
country.

Established on June 26, 1998, the party also boasts the
support of the respected political observers Arbi Sanit and M.
Budyatna. The party aims to develop a moral political life and
says in its statutes that wants to implement the Islamic
principle of becoming a blessing for the whole universe (rahmatan
lil alamin).

Deliar, who is the first Indonesian to hold a doctorate in
politics, says his party is willing to coalesce with other
Islamic parties. He helped to build the Communication Forum of
Islamic Parties, which groups seven parties.

Crescent Star Party (PBB)

This party is led by another of Soeharto's former speech
writers, law professor Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who was among the
few people who witnessed the last tumultuous days of the former
president's regime from the inside. The party claims to be the
torch-bearer of Masyumi, the grand Islamic party which was
dissolved during Sukarno's era and forbidden from reforming by
Soeharto.

Yusril is backed up by former Masyumi leaders such as Hartono
Mardjono and outspoken Muslim preachers such as Ahmad Soemargono
and Abdul Qodir Djaelani. They agree that the PBB is "a modernist
Islamic party" and "not at all radical."

"Our line is clear.This a democratic party," Yusril once said
in response to accusations that the party was radical. The party
has 327 branches in 27 provinces and issues two publications to
disseminate its views: Abadi tabloid and the biweekly Bulan
Bintang.

The party is campaigning for the abolition of the Indonesian
Military's political role and for a separation of the offices of
minister of defense and Indonesian Military commander.

New Masyumi Party (PMB)

This party was established by Ridwan Saidi, a senior
politician renowned for his willingness to jump ship. Ridwan,
once of Golkar, and before that the United Development Party
(PPP), has now struck out on his own.

Ridwan said he named the party "new" to differentiate it from
the "old Masyumi", a party which he claims was coopted by
Soeharto's New Order regime. Ridwan recently named Muslim scholar
Nurcholish Madjid as the ideal presidential candidate, despite
past disagreements over Nurcholish's belief that Muslims should
not be political.

Unlike the PBB, which insists the current administration is
constitutional, the PMB believe the transfer of power from
Soeharto to then vice president B.J. Habibie was legally flawed.

The party wishes to build a populist economy and help the poor
to be strong enough to build a baldatun thayyibatun wa rabbun
ghafur (a blessed and good community).

Indonesian Masyumi Islamic Political Party (PPIM)

This party is led by Abdullah Hehamahua, once a high-spirited
activist of the Muslim Student Association (HMI) who spoke out
against the stipulation that all organizations must adhere to the
Pancasila state ideology.

Abdullah says the PPIM will strive to revive dakwah (Islamic
propagation) in the House of Representatives (DPR), uphold the
law, return sovereignty to the people, build a populist economy,
and establish a constitutional and democratic sharia (Islamic
law).

The party promises to eliminate taxation for the poor, cut
taxes on consumers goods and impose punitive duties on tobacco,
alcohol, gambling and entertainment.

The party also promises to fight for 25 percent of the state
budget to be used to fund education.

Indonesian United Islam Party 1905 (PSII-1905)

The party was born on May 24, 1998, as the heir apparent to
the Islamic United Islam Party set up in Surakarta, Central Java,
in 1905.

The old PSII is credited with raising support for independence
from the Dutch and included noted freedom fighter H. Samanhudi
among its early members.

The new party, which strives to uphold the 1945 Constitution,
now has an estimated eight million supporters in 19 provinces.

Party leaders have expressed concern over the possibility of
the June 7 general election being dominated by the country's
better-funded parties.

Indonesian Islamic United Party (PSII)

Only the number 1905 differentiates this party and the PSII-
1905. The parties strikingly similar logos will also serve to
confuse elderly voters who retain emotional ties to the original
movement.

The PSII was established on May 29, 1998. Its chairman, Taufiq
Rusjdi Tjokroaminoto, is the grandson of H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, an
executive in the original party. The party strives to build a
peaceful coexistence between different religions and welcomes the
support of people from all faiths.

The party vows not to engage in "Islamization" or to seek to
set up an Islamic state. It wishes to cooperate with the
Indonesian Military to uphold the principle of amar ma'ruf nahyi
munkar (exhorting people to do good and help preventing them from
doing harm).

United Development Party (PPP)

This is an old party which claims to have a new vision. It
shed its support of the Pancasila ideology and replaced it with
Islam after Soeharto's resignation. It's old star logo was then
replaced with the Ka'ba, its original logo after it was set up in
1973. The party came into being as the result of a forced fusion
of the Nahdlatul Ulama Party, the Indonesian Muslimin Party, the
PSII and the PERTI.

The party seems capable of conducting a good campaign and has
a network built up over the past 25 years to fall back on.

The party has set a target of 22 percent or 25 million votes
in the June 7 ballot. Among the more important points on its
election manifesto are women's rights and equal development in
eastern and western Indonesia.

"Building without demolishing what exists," is among its many
campaigning slogans.

United Party (PP)

This party is built by H.J. Naro, a veteran politician who was
once the star of PPP and a challenger to Sudharmono, Soeharto's
handpicked candidate, in the vice presidential election in 1988.

The new party takes a star as its logo, and promises to uphold
freedom of opinion and political openness. It also promises to
fight for better and more accessible education for people on
remote regions, including the establishment of scholarships
through cooperation with big businesses.

Justice Party

Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid once said: "If you don't want
to be duped, vote for the Justice Party."

The party was established by a group of young Muslim scholars
and activists. Its president, 38-year-old Nurmahmudi Ismail,
holds a doctorate on food and science technology from A&M
University in Texas. Its secretary-general, Anis Matta, is a
lecturer at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics and
is even younger at only 30 years old.

The party began as a loose forum set up in the 1980s by Muslim
campus activists concerned with promoting social awareness. In
1993, the forum founded the Islamic World Contemporary Study and
Information Institute (SIDIK) to carry out political studies and
research.

The party was established on Aug. 9, 1998. Its goal is to
build a just and prosperous nation with Allah's blessing, and to
establish an honest, clean and respectable government.

From its original 250 members, the party has built up its
strength and now boasts over one million active members
throughout the country. It is represented in 26 provinces, with
East Timor the only province where it does not have a branch. It
also has offices in over 300 regencies.

Party members were recently involved in helping victims of the
Muslim-Christian clashes in Maluku, where more than 300 people
have been killed since the first violence erupted in January.

Indonesian Muslim Awakening Party (Kami)

This party does not explicitly link itself to Islamic
politics, but prefers to draw on writings in the Koran and the
Prophet's tradition, hadith. Chairman Syamsahril says the party
was set up to remind the nation that it is now facing the wrath
of Allah. "This can be seen from the fact that we are facing
crises of morality, economy, politics, law and social affairs, in
short, all spheres of life," he says.

The party aims high but suffers from a lack of funding. Its
headquarters are located in a building lent by a generous party
supporter member. Kami executives insist they want to build a
state system based on equality which is blessed by Allah.

"If the people of this nation ignore the words of Allah, then
this party cannot be held responsible..." says one executive.

Muslim Community Awakening Party (PKU)

This party was established in Tebu Ireng Pesantren (Islamic
boarding school) in East Java on Oct. 25, 1998. Its founders are
K.H. Yusuf Hasyim, the uncle of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman
Abdurrahman Wahid, and its leaders include Abdurrahman's younger
brother Salahuddin Wahid.

Both Hasyim and Salahuddin are outspoken critics of
Abdurrahman, who belongs to the rival National Awakening Party
(PKB).

The party strives for tolerance in religious life and peaceful
coexistence. It opposes the military's role in politics and
supports phasing out the military's presence in the House of
Representatives. It would also like to introduce conscription in
Indonesia.

Nahdlatul Ummat Party (PNU)

Like the PKU, the PNU sprung out of Nahdlatul Ulama. It
adheres to the Pancasila state ideology, but also strongly
supports the introduction of Islamic law.

Many of its leaders are Nahdlatul Ulama elders, including K.H.
Syukron Makmun, who said recently that the PKB and the PKU were
not competitors.

The party strives for a just and prosperous country, and wants
the military to be politically neutral and to concentrate on
protecting the people.

There are five other parties among the 48 poll contestants
whose logos bear Islamic symbols such as the Arabic character
that reads Allahuakbar (Allah is Great). They are the Indonesian
Muslim Party, the SUNI Party, the Democratic Islam Party (PID),
the Abul Yatama Party and the New Indonesia Party.

However, these parties insist they are not Islamic parties and
claim they do not want to close their doors to Indonesians of
other religious persuasions.