T

he Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has achieved another smooth transition in its leadership, with a new lineup of idealistic leaders vowing to reinforce the party'€™s aim of propagating Islam.

The new PKS chairman Sohibul Iman, 49, said recently that, as a dakwah (propagation) party, the PKS could not work alone in achieving its goals, and thus would seek to forge closer cooperation with other political parties, mass media, NGOs, the government and foreign entities.

'€œThe PKS has a mission to become a solid dakwah party that aims to serve the country. We will synergize this with the potential of, and resources available within, the party. As a party that hinges on propagation of the Islamic faith, we want that creed to be reflected in every aspect of our vision and mission,'€ he said.

Propagation is a core feature of the party'€™s DNA. In response to the need for a political vessel stemming from a proliferation of prayer groups in several top-notch universities, the PKS was formed as the then Justice Party (PK) after the 1998 reform movement that toppled dictator Soeharto.

Prior to that time, Soeharto'€™s New Order regime had provided little opportunity for Islamic propagation.

The PK participated in the 1999 legislative election but without a satisfying outcome. In 2003, the PK became a new party when it changed its name to PKS in order to avoid legislative restrictions that would have otherwise prevented it from contesting the 2004 election. The party secured 7.4 percent of the vote.

In the 2009 election, it ranked as the fourth-largest party with 10.18 percent of seats in the House of Representatives. Subsequently, in the recent legislative election, the PKS secured only 7 percent of seats to become the seventh-largest party in the House.

A string of graft cases and revelations of extravagant lifestyles involving PKS officials, which were perceived to be contrary to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, have been blamed for the recent poor electoral performance.

After the 2009 election it appeared that the PKS had strayed away from its primary aim of being a dakwah party, with most PKS officials adopting a pragmatic approach in managing the party in a manner that sought to emulate the success of Turkey'€™s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Seemingly aware of the plight of its electoral prospects, the PKS has brought in new faces into its leadership to help turn the tide.

Sohibul was appointed late on Monday to replace Anis Matta, while former social affairs minister Salim Segaf Al-jufri was chosen as the party'€™s chief patron, replacing Hilmi Aminuddin '€” seen by political observers as the party'€™s '€œgodfather'€.

When asked how he would reform the party to bring about a renewed focus on propagation, Sohibul said that he would hammer out his new policies after hosting the PKS Munas (national assembly) in October, when the new leadership is slated to announce an evaluated mission statement, its five-year programs and a comprehensive management structure.

Sohibul explained that the party'€™s leadership should have been rotated back in April, but delays were caused by preparations to register and endorse candidates for the 2015 simultaneous regional elections.

According to Sohibul, the party is supporting candidates in 210 of the 269 regions nationwide, with 50 party cadres running for spots as various regional heads and deputies.

The PKS, whose movement was initially inspired by Egypt'€™s Muslim Brotherhood, joined the opposition camp of the Red-and-White Coalition led by former presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and Golkar Party chairman-cum-businessman Aburizal Bakrie.

Sohibul said that he could not yet decide whether to remain in the opposition or join the ruling coalition of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo as he would still need to discuss it at the PKS assembly in October.

University of Indonesia Islamic politics and movement expert Yon Machmudi said he believed the new leadership in the PKS would bring about a major change within the party whose popularity has been
in a tailspin.

'€œThe party has suffered from a number of negative incidents lately, for example, those cases related to graft and porn. I believe there is a movement to return the party to its roots, to the original identity of the party in 2004 when its electability was increasing,'€ Yon said.

'€” Ina Parlina also contributed to the story