PKS clarifies

PKS clarifies

We would like to comment on the article by Sadanand Dhume that
appeared in The Jakarta Post on Dec. 5, PKS and the future of
RI's democracy, which was reprinted from an article that
previously appeared in a magazine.

* First, we thank the chief editor of the Post for agreeing to
speak with us, to provide his views and to hear our views on this
article.

* In our view, Dhume's article, which attempted to use
association (e.g., linking Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement
with the alma mater of one of the respected members of the
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Hidayat Nur Wahid), is full of
speculative statements. The overall tone of the article also uses
the same tactics to force a conclusion that "the Justice Party is
by far the larger threat to Indonesia". This sentence refers to a
previous sentence in an attempt to make a comparison with Jamaah
Islamiyah.

* While we respect the individual opinion of Dhume, it would
be a mistake and an insult to portray an Indonesian political
party like the PKS, which was established under the 1945
Constitution (which is the law of the land in Indonesia), as a
threat to the country. We would both politically and legally
challenge such bigotry and hatred.

* Knowing Dhume's background as a former foreign correspondent
in Indonesia, and based on our understanding of his non-academic
background and methodology of arguing in his article, we are
fully confident that the Post readership is mature enough to make
an objective judgment on the mediocre analytical quality and
possibly negative motives of Dhume's article.

* In our call to the chief editor, we shared our sadness and
concern that a well respected newspaper like the Post, with a
broad international and national readership, would use such poor
judgment in reprinting a relatively old article of such
questionable motives.

* We are of the view that the Post has sufficient credibility
and weight to stick to a more objective and strongly
substantiated journalism to maintain the loyalty of its
sophisticated readership. We also shared our commitment with the
chief editor that we would help the readers to realize that the
Post has far greater sophistication in selecting its substance,
contrary to our disbelief when reading this offensive article by
Dhume.

Finally, we would like to thank the Post for providing us with
the opportunity to express our response to the re-printing of
this article. We would like to also thank the readers for their
attention to this matter.

TIFATUL SEMBIRING, President of PKS