Prospects for the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) and Political Islam [8 Juni 2006]

USINDO Open Forum
Prospects for the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) and Political Islam
Dr. Zulkieflimansyah, Member of Parliament
Washington DC, June 8, 2006

“We are suspected of having a hidden agenda to form an Islamic state,” Dr. Zulkieflimansyah said, “but our position is clear. The PKS seeks to ensure successful democratization in Indonesia. We believe in modernity in our education system, democracy in our political system, and back to Islam as our moral code. We have to prevent the country from breaking apart and degenerating into chaos. A democratic and economically viable Indonesia must be the final outcome.”

Dr. Zul, as he asked to be called, is tall, affable, attractive and articulate, and presented a closely reasoned argument to a USINDO audience on June 8 that it makes no sense for a political party to espouse shari’a in Indonesia. In the first place, there is no official standard for what constitutes shari’a. Secondly, it is not a vote-getter.

“PKS began as a dakwa (proselytizing) movement in the 1980s on university campuses,” he said. “It started as a movement. But we saw that Islam was being used for political purposes, so realized we must educate the community. We were forced by history to transform ourselves into a political party. In 1998 the decision was taken to form the Justice Party (PK) to contest general elections in that year. We were very optimistic, but unfortunately the PK received only 1.4 million votes.” This was not enough to pass the threshold percentage of votes required for a party to get a place on the ballot in the next elections.

“We were living in a cocoon world and we were rigid,” Dr. Zul said. “So we changed our strategy. The party was renamed Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (adding Sejahtera,
“prosperity” to “justice,” keadilan of the original name. “We continued in universities but under the PKS we reached out to farmers and laborers as well.”

“We went to the grass roots,” he said, and learned “most people don’t care about shari’a as long as the government will provide jobs and improve the standard of living.”

The strategy seemed successful. In the 2004 elections the PKS got 8.4 million votes. “We projected that we will be at least the second largest party in the 2009 elections,” he said.

PKS’s 8.4 million votes represented 7 percent of the electorate and marked the most spectacular gain among the smaller Islamist parties in 2004. It was widely reported to be the party to watch in the future. Since then, however, its efforts at further expansion have been seen as flagging. Dr. Zul readily admitted the difficulties in becoming a broad-based party.

He suggested that the party’s decision to “face reality” and join the government rather than simply being an opposition party has meant some dilution of its visibility.

Another challenge is managing growing numbers. “We now have over three million cadres,” Dr. Zul said. The cadres are organized into cells, “like a communist party with Islamic ideology,” he added cheerfully, enjoying the irony. “We have learning sessions to upgrade capacity, discuss our shared mission, and promote deep learning and system thinking. And, of course, discuss political and moral issues.

Some issues, such as the anti-pornography bill currently before parliament, put the PKS in a delicate situation,” Dr. Zul said. “There is strong sentiment within the PKS against
pornography, while we also understand the importance of freedom of thought and expression.” He pointed out that the bill was originally drafted by members of parliamentary Commission VIII, which deals with religious affairs. “Usually the DPR (parliament) assigns people with a religious background to Commission VIII. You can imagine the mental model of this group,” he said. He suggested that it would be politically impossible and would create a backlash to oppose this group flatly, invoking the familiar adage, “Don’t force a pig to sing. It doesn’t work and it annoys the pig.” The original draft bill has been amended to soften some of the harsher elements, and he implied the party will probably support the amended version.

Another challenge is posed by 9/11 and the subsequent ‘war on terror.’ After the spectacular increase in vote in 2004, Dr. Zul said the party had a national gathering at which it was projected the party would be “at least” the second largest party by 2009. “But then the war on terror became an international issue. If it is mishandled it will be dangerous to the Islamic community,” he said. The challenges of reality have forced the party to lower its sights. Dr. Zul now predicts it will be the third largest party in the 2009 elections.

“We are being tested: are we a political party or an Islamic movement? If the former, it would be easy to oppose. If the latter, it’s more difficult. If we don’t do so well in 2009 because of our Islamic orientation, that is the price we will have to pay.”

Q: How is the party doing in Jakarta, where it is dominant in the legislative council?

A: We haven’t done as many things as we expected. It’s not easy if you don’t hold the executive position. We will nominate a governor or lieutenant governor in the next elections.

Q: What is the party position on foreign investment?

A: The generation of wealth is influenced by industrial competitiveness, reaching international markets. We must increase our expertise. We need investment, and we need technology. There are potential investors in the queue, but there’s too much bureaucratic red tape. Also there is poor infrastructure, both physical and in terms of education. So we told the president “you can’t please everyone.” The main duty of the government is steering the wheel, but the engine is private investment.

Q: It would seem that moderate Islam in Indonesia is the strategic answer to the global war on terror The United States should certainly support this, but sometimes our embrace can be fatal if it gets out of control. What do you advise the U.S. to do, or not to do, to encourage moderate Islam?

A: We had a discussion about this in PKS. Most of us graduated from secular universities. Others like us are joining PKS, while those from the Islamic school are joining Golkar. What are we to do? One, encourage dialogue between different groupings in Islam. Two, We want to be a voice not only of Indonesia but to the Islamic world. Because of our experience with democracy we can speak to the Middle East: if you are alienated you are not effective. If you join government you can accomplish more.

For the United States, inviting the radicals is more useful than inviting the liberals. If the liberals go home to preach about liberal democracy they will be accused of being lackeys. If you show U.S. reality to radicals there is the possibility of their having an experience that changes their view. Second, the U.S. must practice what it preaches.

Q: A role of PKS, as you have described it, is to teach Muslims about Islam. But what kind of Islam?

A: To transform Indonesia into an Islamic state? We learned that people don’t know what they mean by ‘Islamic state.’ Some districts have enacted shari’a, but they have just made rules and called it shari’a. We do not work for an Islamic state, but neither can the West force the Islamic world to separate Church and State, because Islam does not make that separation. Our main program is education, education and education.

Q: What techniques did PKS employ to expand to rural areas?

A: One technique was to ask for strategic ministries when joining government – posts like agriculture, youth and sports, public housing. Another technique is our weekly meetings. There are 10 people in my circle and 9 of us have PhDs from Western universities. We attempt to expand these circles, but it is expensive. In the villages we talk about moral things but also how to improve local conditions. The party is still largely urban. We have difficulties in organizing rural people into cadres.

Q: How would you evaluate the government’s anti-corruption campaign?

A: We joined the SBY government not only because we were offered ministerial positions but also because we thought he was the right person to pursue corruption. But it’s not working because now, no one is willing to assume responsibility. Government must now change its strategy, and focus on how to get better performances from bureaucrats. You will always have corruption if salaries are so low. The campaign is working, but the results are not what we thought.

Q: What is the PKS view of military reform and the intelligence services?

A: There are similar problems to that of the anti-corruption campaign. We push government to continue reforms, but PKS must also strengthen its position with the TNI.