PBB assembles Muslim clerics support for polls

PBB assembles Muslim clerics support for polls

JAKARTA (JP): The Crescent Star Party is gearing up for the
June 7 general election by establishing a team of strategists and
soliciting the support of Muslim clerics.

Widely considered to have the potential to be a serious poll
contender, the party, led by constitutional law expert Yusril
Ihza Mahendra, will focus its campaign on pesantren (Islamic
boarding schools) across the country.

According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Indonesia has
at least 9,388 pesantren with 1,770,768 students. The leaders of
these schools, kyai, often command great respect in their
respective communities.

The Crescent Star Party's strategies were revealed on Friday
by deputy chairman Fadli Zon on the sidelines of the party's
congress at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta. The
gathering was opened on Thursday evening and will end on Sunday.

Regarding the competition with other Islamic parties in
winning the support of the pesantren, Fadli said, "It's a kind of
race to fight for what is good."

To win the support of the Islamic boarding schools, the party,
according to Fadli, plans to hold joint seminars with the kyai on
various topics and visit pesantren across the country.

Fadli also said the party would establish a voter corps at the
national, provincial and regency levels. The corps would nominate
the party's legislative candidates.

"Even the chairman of the Crescent and Star Party may not
become a legislator if he hasn't received enough votes from the
voter corps," Fadli said, adding that this process would force
legislative candidates to campaign door-to-door to garner the
support of the voter corps.

Fadli said the process was democratic because it prioritized
the aspirations of the grassroots.

Fadli said the party's presidential candidate also would be
determined by the voter corps throughout Indonesia.

"It is like a poll within the party," Fadli said.

Meanwhile, Yusril said on Friday that the Crescent Star Party
would allow members to name their own presidential candidate, who
did not necessarily have to be the chairman of the party.

"It is up to the party's supporters to determine their
president candidate," Yusril said.

Meanwhile, in Semarang, Central Java, Adi Andojo, a member of
the Team of Eleven in charge of examining and selecting eligible
poll contestants, said he suspected some political parties had
attempted to bypass the team's inspections.

After checking the branches and chapters of seven political
parties in Semarang, Adi said that a number of parties returned
the required examination forms just before the Feb. 27 deadline,
giving the team little time to examine them.

The examinations must be completed no later than March 2.

If parties return the forms after Feb. 27, they will not be
allowed to contest the elections, he stated.

The following are some of the activities of political parties
across the country:

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
and the National Mandate Party (PAN) accused the ruling Golkar of
using money to attract voters.

The East Nusa Tenggara chapters of PAN and PDI Perjuangan said
in Kupang on Friday that the deputy chairman of Golkar's board of
advisers, A.A. Baramuli, distributed money to village chiefs
during his recent visit to Central Timor, Antara reported.

The chairman of PAN's East Nusa Tenggara, Chris Bro Tokan,
said that Golkar had broken a general agreement to conduct a free
and fair poll.

Frans Lebu, the secretary of PDI Perjuangan's chapter in East
Nusa Tenggara, said that Golkar's actions were unethical.

Both made their statements based on press reports that Golkar
members meeting in the districts of Bajawa and Manggarai used
government facilities. It was during these meetings that Baramuli
was alleged to have distributed money to village chiefs

In Pekanbaru, Riau, the rector of the Sultan Syarif Qasim
State Institute of Islamic Studies, Amir Luthfi, said he would
not allow any political parties to hold campaigns on the campus,
citing the possibility of unrest.

"It would harm the learning-teaching process," he said as
quoted by Antara.

He added that although Minister of Education and Culture
Juwono Sudarsono had stated that campuses could be used for
campaigning, it did not mean that every university would agree to
the practice.

Instead, he suggested a panel discussion featuring speakers
from political parties. "It will be okay if we only meet with the
leaders of political parties and discuss certain problems to find
solutions for them," he said. (har/01/swe)