Party vows to expand support base

Party vows to expand support base

JAKARTA: The Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has
vowed to enlarge its voter-base in the 2004 elections so that it
need not change its name again.

PKS is the new name of the Justice Party (PK), which in the
1999 elections gained only 1.36 percent of the vote.

A party must have garnered at least 2 percent of the 1999 vote
to be eligible to contest the 2004 elections, otherwise it must
its change name and start anew.

"We are targeting 10 percent of the vote, but possibly we will
only get 6 to 7 percent," said PKS chairman Hidayat Nurwahid here
on Monday.

PK was established just months before the 1999 elections.

The electoral threshold for the 2009 elections will increase
to 3 percent. The electoral threshold is designed to encourage
coalitions among parties. - Antara