Only one Islamic party necessary

Only one Islamic party necessary

From Republika

Two Islamic parties have recently been established, one led by
a noted preacher and the other founded by a politician who has
lived through three eras. I think this phenomenon isn't something
we should feel grateful for. I am apprehensive, instead. God
willing, many others will share my concern. Why? The answer is
that founding a new party, particularly if it is only a splinter
group, means that we did not learn any lessons from the previous
general election, where the Muslim vote was split between dozens
of parties and the best an Islamic party could do was to garner
the third-most number of votes.

Muslims should think about how to unite the existing Islamic
parties into just one or, temporarily, two parties, and should
not be in a hurry to establish new parties to contest the 2004
general election.

We should not form parties that will only be able to take part
in the next elections and win just one or two seats in the House
of Representatives. We should calculate how an Islamic party can
be absolutely triumphant in the next elections, and then our wish
to put Islamic law, syariah, into effect will come to pass.

KH A CHOLIL RIDWAN

Jakarta