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