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View all search resultsAnalysis: PKS loses its Islamist sting in Prabowo’s coalition government
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Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) members and supporters join a leisurely road race event at Jakarta City Hall yard on April 15 as part of the party’s 20th anniversary celebration. (Courtesy of/PKSFoto Jakarta)
T
he Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the country’s largest Islamist party, isn’t going to change course any time soon following changes in its leadership this month, as it has chosen instead to reaffirm its loyalty to the government of President Prabowo Subianto until his term ends in 2029.
The first order of business for new PKS president Almuzzammil Yusuf, 60, is to meet with Prabowo and reiterate the party’s commitment to the coalition government, of which it is a member. But this means toning down the Islamist rhetoric that has been its key characteristic.
“For PKS, the success of Prabowo’s programs is the happiness of the people of Indonesia,” Almuzzammil told reporters. More than a week since he was appointed as the party’s 2025-2030 president, he still has been unable to personally convey this message to the President, whose office has cited his busy schedule.
Almuzzammil is the party’s latest senior politician to be appointed president by the Shura Council, its highest decision-making body, at a meeting on June 3-4 in Jakarta. The meeting also resulted in the election of Mohamad Sohibul Iman, 59, the former PKS president from 2015-2020, as the head of the powerful council.
PKS uses the title “president” for the head of its executive board, not “chairman”. The position rotates every five years and, with the exception of its first president, none has served more than five years. The members of the Shura Council, mostly elderly, collectively hold the real power, while the president is the party’s public face.
Last year, PKS accepted Prabowo’s offer to join his government, even though it had supported former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan in the two-horse presidential election in February 2024. It was rewarded with a cabinet seat.
But following the waves of mass layoffs in recent months, Yassierli’s position as manpower minister has become tenuous. His name is often cited among cabinet members primed for replacement in the next reshuffle, if and when that happens.
