Muhaimin Iskandar: (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

The National Awakening Party (PKB) is struggling to regain its past glory. However, chairman Muhaimin Iskandar says it is not going to be easy to do so, as more people have become apathetic and rivalry among political parties has become fiercer. Muhaimin, who is also the manpower and transmigration minister, recently spoke with The Jakarta Post'€™s Nurfika Osman over his party'€™s election target and strategies.

Question: What are the issues that you plan to promote during your campaign?

Answer: We will introduce our party'€™s platform and, of course, promote our legislative candidates and election mechanism to the public. We hope that these will attract the people and encourage them to put their trust in our party.

Issues on constitutionalism and law enforcement will be delivered at each of our campaign events so that people will understand that if the PKB wins, law enforcement will be protected, illegal levies will be eradicated and Indonesia will free itself of corruption. Illegal levies are one of our main concerns as they increase production costs for businesses; added to which, we are facing bottlenecks in infrastructure.

We will also be promoting the establishment of infrastructure to boost the agricultural sector, such as reservoirs, and promoting ways to ensure that state budget funds are used effieciently so as to keep the agreed budget on target.

Do Nahdliyin (members of Nahdlatul Ulama/NU) still make up the largest proportion of your party'€™s supporters? What about other groups?

Yes, the Nahdliyin are still the largest constituent of our party but we are also targeting grassroot Muslims '€” those on low incomes. We are helping to empower them through small and medium enterprises programs. We are also targeting Muslims who are nationalistic but open-minded and not radical. Islam is a religion of peace, a rahmatan lil alamin [a blessing for the universe]. We are not going to embrace Islamic groups who try to divide this nation.

Why are you considering Rhoma Irama as your party'€™s presidential candidate? Is it just because he has a large fan base and may attract a large number of votes?

We are promoting Rhoma Irama as a presidential candidate, but we are more serious in promoting Mahfud MD and Jusuf Kalla. Rhoma has a strong grassroot network with a vast number of followers and fans. Meanwhile, Mahfud is a figure with a good track record in governmental institutions, while Kalla is a [former] vice president who works quickly and aggressively.

So, you are serious about promoting Rhoma?

Yes, we are.

What about Rusdi Kirana? Why have you chosen him as your deputy and what do you aim to achieve by having the owner of Lion Air, the largest privately owned airline in the country, in your party?

There are three reasons we have him in the party. First, we want to prove to the general public that
the PKB is an Islamic party that is open to everyone, that we are inclusive; and it is not only stated in our vision but also in reality. We are a pluralist party, thus we have embraced Rusdi, who is of Chinese descent.

Second, he has a lot of experience as an entrepreneur. We all know that he built his business from scratch and turned it into a huge business. This fact shows us that together with NU, he can help NU members and all Indonesians develop small and medium enterprises [SMEs].

Third, the PKB needs his skills to better manage the party. His track record and achievements are drivers for change in PKB'€™s management system.

Of course, we also hope more Indonesians of Chinese descent will vote for the PKB by having him in the party. We want to widen our network and support base to include Chinese-Indonesians as well as Rusdi'€™s employees.

Has he injected a lot of funds into the PKB?

He will help the party as best as he can.

What is your target for the legislative election and do you think that you are on track for achieving it?

Our target is to secure 100 seats in the House of Representatives and everything we are doing is right on track. We are pretty strong in East Java, Central Java, West Java, South Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh. We are optimistic that we can reach that target.

Have you set a plan for a coalition and, if so, what parties have you approached?

At this stage, we are open to every party and we will talk with everyone. We are very close to the PDI-P [Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle] as we have strong, historical ties. We have also gained [coalition] experience with the Democractic Party. We will decide [on a possible coalition] after the legislative election.

In every new government, the fuel subsidy is a crucial issue. What is the PKB'€™s view on this issue?

The government'€™s fuel subsidy is too high and we lose Rp 300 trillion [US$26.2 billion] in the process. The PKB wants to create a fixed subsidy system to answer this problem. For instance, for 1 liter of fuel, we will provide a subsidy of only Rp 2,000. If there is an increase in the price of fuel, the remaining cost will have to be paid by consumers.

This mechanism is needed to stop the bleeding of the state budget and to make the system altogether more efficient.

The state budget should be used for basic infrastructure to help develop the economy, such as irrigation systems, toll roads, railroads and airports. If over the next five years, infrastructure projects are established evenly across the archipelago, unemployment will go down, entrepreneurship will rise and the price of goods will be lower.

Many foreign investors have moved their operations overseas because of disputes over wages in the country. How would the PKB deal with this?

We need to establish good bipartite relations between workers and investors. They need to sit down together and make agreements. If the relations are strong, they will not be easily disrupted by issues external to the company; so that if a company is profitable, the workers can demand additional benefits but if the company is shaky, the workers would understand the circumstances.

We also need to strengthen regional remuneration boards, the entities that are responsible for determining wage levels, to help deal with this issue.

We understand that workers have the right to voice their opinions and set up labor unions, and we have seen many labor movements during the past 15 years. This is a transition period and part of Indonesia'€™s maturing democracy, which is is a positive thing.

We hope that in the future, workers will better understand the function of their organizations and
can use them as a medium to better communicate with their employers.

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