Young PKS voters may not go with board's endorsement

Young PKS voters may not go with board's endorsement

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

Although young supporters of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) are anxious about which presidential candidate their
leaders will endorse in the July 5 polls, they said it would do
little to influence their voting choices.

Fedra Devata Rosi, 18, a PKS youth member, said that whoever
was endorsed by the party's central board would not necessarily
be voted for by the party's rank and file.

"PKS members are smart and they can't easily be led in making
up their minds. They will not vote for candidates who will damage
the party's credibility," she claimed.

She said that the divisions over which presidential candidate
the PKS would endorse was nothing unusual as the opposing camps
within the PKS each had strong reasons.

"Whatever the party decides, it will be for the good of the
party. The decision must be carefully considered as it will not
only affect the PKS and its members, but also the whole nation"
she told The Jakarta Post.

Fedra, a first year student at the University of Indonesia,
was commenting on a strenuous tug-of-war between two camps within
the party that has prevented a swift decision on which candidate
it will support in the presidential election -- whether it will
be Golkar Party candidate Gen. (ret) Wiranto or Amien Rais of the
National Mandate Party (PAN).

However, when asked if an endorsement of Wiranto could have an
adverse impact on the party due to his alleged involvement in
human rights violations, she said: "The accusation has been
pushed along by the media and those who dislike him. We have to
look at his true personality and how he heads his family to gauge
whether or not he is worthy of our support."

Despite a string of accusations, the latest leading to an
arrest warrant from an East Timor court, Wiranto has never been
declared a suspect in Indonesia for human rights abuses.

Another party supporter, Widiyanto, 23, also said, "Even if
the central board fails to issue a recommendation before July 5,
we will still vote according to our consciences," he said,
adding: "We need a strong leader in the fight against
corruption." The PKS advanced the stamping out of corruption as
its main theme during the legislative election campaign.

When asked his preference, he said: "I think Wiranto has the
traits required of a strong leader. We also consider him to be a
clean candidate."

Party supporter Endang Widiati, who voiced support for Amien,
said that although an endorsement would matter little to educated
and urban middle class supporters, it could, however, influence
members in rural areas.

"In the past five years, the PKS has turned into a mass party
that includes those from the rural regions, and they will surely
follow whatever the central board decides," she said.

However, Endang said that the protracted talks over
prospective candidates indicated that the PKS was nothing more
than a regular political party that was only interested in
calculating gains and losses when making decisions.

"If the PKS is committed to reform and corruption eradication,
why don't they just pick Amien," she said, referring to the vocal
figure once dubbed the "locomotive of the reform movement."