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.