PKS asks members not to campaign for candidates

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

Amid uncertainty over which candidate to support, a Muslim-based party has urged its members to refrain from taking part in presidential campaigns.

In a press release made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) advisory council announced that party officials and members were prohibited from joining the team of any presidential candidate.

Council chairman Rahmat Abdullah said that party members should not let other parties manipulate them or PKS' symbols for the benefit of candidates in the campaign.

"This is to maintain both internal solidity within the party's rank-and-file and good relationships with all candidates," he said.

Rahmat said that until now the party had yet to issue a decision on which presidential candidate it would endorse in the election.

"We regret the fact that the media has run stories saying that we have given an endorsement to one of the five presidential candidates," he said.

A tug-of-war between two camps within PKS had prevented it from making a swift decision on its preferred presidential candidate.

Party spokesman Suryama said that the party's ranks were divided between those who support Golkar Party presidential candidate Gen. (ret) Wiranto and the candidate nominated by the National Mandate Party (PAN), Amien Rais.

He said that the two camps had an equally strong foundation for their endorsement.

However, a number of the party's provincial chapters have grown impatient with the protracted wrangling within the party and have begun promoting the cause of one presidential candidate.

In Medan, North Sumatra, the PKS provincial chapter has openly declared its support for Amien, while in Surabaya, East Java, party leaders have given the go-ahead for members to join the PAN presidential campaign.

The five-year-old PKS (originally the Justice Party, or PK) which claims a 300,000-strong membership, reached a surprising seventh place in the April 5 legislative election contested by 24 parties, and won the majority of votes in the capital.

The party leadership has announced it will play the role of opposition in the legislature with only 45 of the 550 seats.

Members of the party began to speculate that the PKS would issue its endorsement only days before the July 5 election.