PKB hopes to benefit from its pluralist perspective

PKB hopes to benefit from its pluralist perspective

Rais Hidayat, Research and Development Unit, The Jakarta Post

Compared to other Muslim-based political parties, the National
Awakening Party (PKB) has a reputation among non-Muslim and
minority groups as an inclusive and tolerant political party,
although the National Mandate Party (PAN) is also accommodating
of minority groups, as reflected in the presence of non-Muslim
legislators in the party led by Amien Rais.

The PKB's political outlook cannot be separated from that of
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, co-founder of the party, former
president and also former chairman of the country's largest
Muslim group, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). The party was established
by Gus Dur's grandfather Hasyim Asy'ari and is inseparable from
the NU, because most of its members also hail from the NU.

Although the party only won the fourth-largest number of seats
in the House of Representatives (DPR), Gus Dur was able to win
the presidency over the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) candidate in the 1999 presidential election with
the backing of other Muslim-based parties.

In July 2001, however, the nearly blind Gus Dur was impeached
and replaced by then-vice president Megawati.

Since his fall, internal conflicts have grown in both the NU
and the PKB, although Gus Dur remains dominant in both
institutions.

The 2004 general elections will provide an opportunity to see
whether the PKB's reputation as a pluralistic party will have an
effect in its gaining votes. There is a fear among the NU circle
that the tolerant, good image may also backfire -- a perspective
that has long been part of the Muslim organization.

The PKB membership traditionally derive from the NU, mostly
from rural Java, particularly East Java. The PKB secured
7,034,707 votes in the 1999 election from East Java alone, where
about 35.5 percent of total voters live. This province
contributed 24 of the 51 seats the PKB won.

With Muslim voters making up the bulk of its followers, PKB
has a solid advantage in the upcoming elections. The nationwide
network of pesantren, or Islamic boarding schools, form its voter
backbone. Students and former students, as well as their families
and residents of nearby pesantren will very likely follow the
lead of their religious teachers in casting their votes.

Historically, the loyalty of pesantren students and educators
for the NU-linked party has been a given. In the 1955 election,
the NU party in East Java won 34 percent of votes. The same was
repeated in the 1971 election, even when there was strong
military pressure to shift to the government-backed Golkar Party.
The 1999 election merely confirmed the close ties between the NU
and the PKB.

But being rooted too exclusively in a single segment of
society can also be a disadvantage, as potential voters may feel
excluded and thus limit the party's chances.

Realizing this, the PKB seems eager to reach out to non-Muslim
voters and voters outside Java. The party possesses several
characteristics that may be capitalized to expand its voter base.

First, its political platform is well recognized as
nationalist. Established on July 23, 1998 by Muslim founders and
with an all-Muslim following, the party is based on the national
ideology of Pancasila.

Second, the philosophy of its leaders and members is communal
and educational. In developing its identity, the new NU-PKB
generation led by Gus Dur concluded that being open to other
sources of truth and wisdom was key to their future.

Third, it has made significant investments in interreligious
relations and minority rights protection efforts, provided by Gus
Dur during his presidency. This is seen in Gus Dur's strong
support of reinstating Konghucu as a national religion, and of
his declaring Chinese Lunar New Year, or Imlek, a national
holiday.

This communal and inclusive stance has extended not only to
the ethnic Chinese community, but also to other minority groups.
North Sumatra, North Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua, West Irian Jaya,
East Nusa Tenggara and West Kalimantan are all fertile soil for
the PKB.

Symbolic accommodation of minority groups is part of its
strategy to expand its voter base. While the party has nominated
non-Muslims as legislative candidates, unfortunately they are not
the strongest candidates. Prominent Protestant figures Bara
Hasibuan and Maria Pakpahan and former chairperson of the Forum
of Indonesian Catholic Communities (FMKI) AB Susanto might be the
exceptions, but the other candidates simply are not the cream of
the crop of their representative sociopolitical spheres.

To be fair, this limited achievement is also attributable to
the reserved support from non-Muslim communities.

First, the PKB logo and daily activities are perceived to be
too Islamic-oriented.

Second, many people want to see Gus Dur admitting to his
physical limitations in leading the nation and cultivate a
successor, or put forth another presidential candidate.

In the end, this unfavorable internal climate may limit the
party's capacity to use its many younger leaders to its advantage
and achieve its target of winning 23 percent of votes.