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)