PKB amends platform to attract voters
PKB amends platform to attract voters
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Unreconciled relations with the breakaway Matori Abdul Djalil
faction took center stage during the just-concluded congress held
by the faction of the National Awakening Party (PKB) loyal to
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, overshadowing the more crucial
changes the party made to reclaim the presidency after the 2004
elections.
In a bid to build a strong organization and attract voters in
the next general election, PKB amended its statutes and political
platform during its congress which ended on Sunday in Yogyakarta.
One of the most substantial changes constitutes a clear-cut
division of power between the party's consultative board, known
as the Majelis Tanfidziah, which former president Gus Dur chairs,
and the executive board under party chairman Alwi Shihab.
Unlike in the past, the consultative board no longer plays the
most decisive role in policy making.
PKB executive Muhammad AS Hikam said the change was expected
to empower the executive board so as to run the party in an
effective manner.
"The consultative board deals with macro policies while the
executive board is responsible for day-to-day policy making. The
amendment also underlines that party policies are taken
collectively," former state minister of research Hikam told The
Jakarta Post.
The congress also agreed to emphasize that morals and ethics
should be taken into account in the party's political struggle.
"We remain a religious-nationalist party and are inclusive to
people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds," he said.
Newly elected chairman Alwi Shihab said that the eradication
of corruption would be one of the party's top priority programs
as a consequence of the party's commitment to upholding morals
and ethics.
"We won't misuse democracy for the sake of our political goals
or at the expense of the national interest," he said.
The party, whose support comes mostly from Nahdlatul Ulama,
the country's largest Muslim organization, finished fourth in the
last election in 1999 but won the presidency.
To attract more voters, the party introduced an "operational
platform", which reflects its stance on democratization, economic
development, regional autonomy, and the national education
system.
In a bid to uphold democracy, the party staunchly supports
direct presidential elections, in which a presidential candidate
and his or her running mate contest the election in tandem.
In the economic field, PKB suggests a more popular economic
system that is workable rather than resting on rhetoric.
On regional autonomy, the party calls for a revision to Law
No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, with the aim of preventing
conflict between regional governments and the central government.
"We offer the operational platform to our potential voters to
educate them to use their common sense in choosing their
political affiliation in the general election, although we
realize irrationality can sometimes determine people's
preferences in politics," Hikam said.
Hikam, one of those who drafted the operational platform,
claimed that his PKB was the only political party to offer
realistic ideas on a variety of matters to attract voters.