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elf-styled king of dangdut singer Rhoma Irama launched on Saturday his new political party, called the Peaceful and Benign Islam (Idaman) Party, which he says will promote Islam'€™s tolerance and the values of pluralism.

Rhoma, who declared himself chairman of the party, said he had decided to set up the party after seeing how Islam had become a target of Islamophobia in the past few years. '€œIn Indonesia and around the world, Muslims have not been brave enough to step forward and to claim their identity due to various stigmas such as terrorism, radicalism and racism,'€ he said during the soft-launch of the Idaman Party in an Arabic-themed restaurant in South Jakarta over the weekend.

The singer, known for dangdut hits like '€œBegadang'€ (Stay up all night) and '€œJudi'€ (Gambling), argued that Islamic teaching encouraged pluralism and he wanted his party to allow membership for anybody regardless of their faith.

'€œThe [Idaman Party] must be inclusive, not exclusive. We can'€™t have members from just NU [Nahdlatul Ulama] or just from Muhammadiyah,'€ Rhoma said, referring to the two largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia.

In the ceremony, Rhoma and Idaman Party secretary-general Abdurrahman Tardjo signed a certificate indicating the soft-launch of the party, before Rhoma taught the crowd the party'€™s official slogans.

Rhoma also claimed that the party had set up their structure in all 34 provinces and most regencies and once the party met all the requirements needed to officially register with the Law and Human Rights Ministry, he would proceed with declaring the party a legitimate political vehicle.

'€œHopefully we will be able to register our membership before Aug. 17 when we will officially declare the Idaman Party,'€ he said. He declined to provide details regarding the total number of members.

Rhoma, a former member the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB), denied that he had established the new party due to his disappointment with those three Islamic parties.

'€œI have never felt disappointed [with my involvement in the three parties] but I feel that establishing [the Idaman Party] is party of my contribution to this country. I will make it my goal to create strong links between the Islamic and nationalistic parties,'€ he said.

Last year, Rhoma was tapped as the PKB'€™s presidential candidate but was later dropped, leading to his departure from the party amid claims he had been manipulated simply to increase the party'€™s vote.

He did not fare much better in the PBB as he failed to become party chairman in the race against Yusril Ihza Mahendra in April.

Political analyst Gun Gun Heryanto said the biggest challenge Rhoma would face was transforming himself from an entertainment figure into a credible politician.

'€œRhoma Irama does not have an image as a credible politician in spite of his huge popularity as a musician. Although he has been involved in politics since the 1970s, he has a lot to prove because he has never been a mainstream political figure,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.