PPP chairman supports MUI election appeal

PPP chairman supports MUI election appeal

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara (JP): The United Development Party
(PPP) on Friday threw its weight behind the Indonesian Council of
Ulemas' call for Muslims to vote for Muslim-based parties in
Monday's polls.

PPP chairman Hamzah Haz told reporters before a campaign here
that he would follow suit in voicing the call, saying he
considered the ulemas' appeal an edict.

"That's what MUI is supposed to do, so that Muslims can
exercise their rights in a correct manner. I don't think it (the
appeal) is an extraordinary issue," Hamzah said.

In a June 1 statement signed by its chairman Ali Yafie and
secretary-general Nazri Adlani, the MUI called on Muslims not to
vote for non-Muslim legislative candidates. Ali said the message
served as a guideline for Muslims to vote for the right people,
and was not aimed at sowing hatred between them and those of
other faiths.

Controversy has raged over the message, with National
Awakening Party founder Abdurrahman Wahid and National Mandate
Party chairman Amien Rais, both known as Muslim leaders, taking
an opposing stance.

Hamzah, who, as well as Abdurrahman, leads a party which
claims to accommodate the interests of the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim
organization, denied political motives were behind the MUI
appeal.

"The message is related to strategic issues Muslims will face
in the next five years, so they must be reminded," Hamzah said.

PPP is one of at least 12 parties which adopt Islam as their
basis.

Hamzah agreed that parties should not exploit religious values
to gain political advantages, but said he would pursue any
political means to develop religions.

"It's common that political struggle in legislative bodies is
aimed at setting guidelines for future policies concerning
religious affairs," he said.

Hamzah reiterated his party's decision to ask for an edict
from ulemas for its selection of presidential candidates. The
former minister of investment looks to win the party's support
for his presidential bid unchallenged.

In his final campaign, Hamzah was greeted by thousands of PPP
supporters, who packed the Gunungsari square in West Lombok
regency near here.

Separately, Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman Yusril Ihza
Mahendra dismissed Amien Rais' expressed fear that the MUI call
would spark national disintegration and halt the reform movement.

Speaking before his address to PBB supporters in Surakarta,
Central Java, Yusril said polarization of parties into secular-
nationalist and Muslim groups was a sociological phenomenon that
had existed in the predominantly Muslim country for decades.

"There is no doubt that politics in Indonesia has long been
contested along two mainstream groupings. The problem is whether
the groups can cooperate," Yusril said.

He suggested that both groups avoid clashes by making
compromises as happened in the early years after independence.
(39/44)