The spectacular rise in votes won by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in national elections, from 1.36 percent of the total national popular vote in 1999 to 7.34 percent in 2004, has led many to believe that the party will prove a serious contender to the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) in 2009.

Compared to other political parties, the PKS is relatively clean and free from internal conflict. On top of this, the PKS is poised to mobilize and garner the vote of thousands of highly dedicated university students in 2009.

PKS leaders seem to realize that, if the party wished to win, it must change its image from one of Islamic sectarianism to something more pluralistic. This is because the growing self-confidence of the party has motivated it to cast its net beyond its traditional constituencies -- there is even a plan to reach out to non-Muslim voters.

From the success of the Golkar Party and the PDIP, the PKS has learned that the concentration of Indonesian voters is in the middle of the political continuum -- the majority of voters are neither left secular nor far right religious ideologues, but lie somewhere in between. Thus, what the PKS is trying to do is move from the far right to center right.

Indonesia's two largest Islamic mass organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) recently protested against the PKS, because the party used the names of their founders, Ahmad Dahlan and Hasyim Asyari respectively, in its television ads. The PKS's portrayal of Soeharto as a national hero has also attracted controversy.

The use of the names of these religious and nationalist leaders is not without political calculation. As the most dynamic Islamic party, the PKS wants to convince the Indonesian people that it would be best positioned to unite religious and nationalist political forces.

According to critics, the PKS's main goal is not so much to idolize these leaders as it is to portray itself as the unifying force and peace maker at a time when Indonesians are divided due to unresolved past conflicts.

It is too early to say whether or not the PKS has been successful in changing its image. However, if the party indeed wants to look more moderate and inclusive, there are at least three important things that need to be considered.

First, the PKS has to be committed to the principle of democratic citizenship, this means endorsing political equality among Indonesian citizens, regardless of individual ethnic, religious or cultural backgrounds. When the PKS appeared to be the most tenacious vanguard of the porn bill, those who rejected the bill began to doubt its commitment to political pluralism.

Second, it is not yet clear how serious the PKS is in categorically rejecting the use of violence by some religious radical groups. For instance, we didn't hear the PKS vocally defending the religious rights of the followers of Ahmadiyah when they were intimidated and their houses of worship were destroyed and burned. Passivity on this issue would be neglectful and could be seen as a sign of impartiality to the importance of the primacy of civility in Indonesian politics.

Last but not least, if the PKS aspires to be viewed as an inclusive and moderate party, it has to be ready to play a substantive role as the backbone of the compatibility between Islam and democracy in Indonesia. That way the PKS will not only attract the sympathy of the majority of Indonesian people, but the support of the international community. Otherwise, all its efforts to build a new image will be seen as no more than a game of political charades.

The writer is a professor it the Department of International Relations at the Parahyangan Catholic University (UNPAR), Bandung.

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