T

he leadership of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) on Friday kick-off a two-day meeting to decide who would be the party'€™s presidential candidate.

The council is expected to choose from five potential candidates for the presidential race, who were elected recently in a nationwide election involving all party members.

The five men are party faction leader at the House of Representatives Hidayat Nur Wahid, party chairman Anis Matta, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring and Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail.

The party, whose image was badly tarnished by the major scandal implicating its chief patron last year, is gearing up for the election and hopes that it can form an alliance with the major parties to boost its chances.

Political analyst Arie Sudjito of Yogyakarta'€™s Gadjah Mada University said the PKS would not be able to meet the presidential threshold and field its own presidential candidate. The party, he said, was likely aiming for a vice presidential seat.

Studies revealed that the PKS would struggle just to reach the 3.5 percent national vote threshold required for the party to be eligible to secure seats at the House of Representatives. The presidential threshold is set at 20 percent of the popular vote.

In an attempt to improve its prospects in the election, the Muslim-based party has started communicating with other parties ahead of the April 9 legislative election.

Following a meeting with Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie last week, PKS chairman Anis Matta said he would hold meetings with People'€™s Conscience (Hanura) Party'€™s presidential hopeful former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret.) Wiranto and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri.

'€œWe need to open talks with all parties even though it may not necessarily lead to us forming an alliance for the next election,'€ Anis said recently.

He also claimed that he had met with leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the country'€™s two largest Islamic organizations.

Arya Fernandes, a political analyst with Charta Politika, said that exploring the possibility of forming an alliance ahead the presidential election was inevitable for parties like the PKS. '€œThey should start communicating with other parties right now,'€ he said.

In the 2009 election, the PKS got 7.9 percent of the vote, making it the fourth largest faction at the House. The PKS is currently among the six parties in the coalition led by
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s Democratic Party, which has also been hit hard by corruption scandals.

However, the ruling Democratic Party (PD) seems to have marginalized the Islamic party, given the numerous '€œrebellious'€ anti-government positions the PKS had taken at the House.

Despite the challenges facing the party today, Anis said he was still upbeat about his party'€™s chances in the election. '€œPolitics is a game and the PKS will be playing it as an attractive one, rather than a dangerous one. This game will be attractive, fun and exciting. This is how we improve our democracy,'€ he said.

PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo acknowledged Anis had requested for a meeting with Megawati. '€œBut we haven'€™t decided the time yet,'€ said Tjahjo who later revealed that Megawati had also met with leaders of other parties, including Aburizal.