POLITICAL ISLAM -- KEY PARTY EYES NATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003153

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, INR/B, INR/I
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KISL PINR ID
SUBJECT: POLITICAL ISLAM -- KEY PARTY EYES NATIONAL
ELECTIONS IN 2009 (C-DI7-01898)

REF: A. STATE 151319


B. JAKARTA 1157

C. JAKARTA 2166

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Islamist-oriented Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) emerged as a political force in Indonesia by
capturing eight percent of parliamentary seats in 2004. PKS
campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, but has thus far
failed to deliver on its clean governance promise. A
55-person council makes all of PKS' strategic decisions and
will--we understand--try to broaden the party's message in
order to enhance performance in the 2009 national elections.
Women play a relatively marginal role in the leadership
structure of the party, though PKS has recently beefed-up
efforts to attract female voters. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) This message answers questions in Ref A requesting
information on Islamist-oriented parties world-wide,
including Indonesia's PKS.

FROM PIETY TO PRAGMATISM


3. (C) PKS engineered its successful 2004 electoral
performance largely by scrapping its conservative, Islamic
public bent for a more pragmatic political persona--the party
of clean governance. In the lead-up to the 2004 legislative
elections, PKS barnstormed the country with a brand new
anti-corruption platform, tapping into growing national
disenchantment with the prevalence of corruption at all
levels of government. The strategy paid handsome
dividends--and by capturing 45 of the Indonesian national
legislature's 550 seats (rising from one percent in 1999 to
seven percent of total membership in the process)--PKS
instantly became a force to be reckoned with.


4. (C) Despite the well packaged anti-corruption campaign
message, the party has thus far failed to deliver on its
clean governance promise. Far from leading the battle
against corruption in Indonesia, PKS has instead become
virtually indistinguishable from its party peers in terms of
its reliance on money politics. As noted in Ref B, the party
sold its support to the highest bidder in the high stakes
2007 Jakarta Governor's race, and Mission contacts
consistently report that PKS legislators refuse to act on
laws without receiving financial "encouragement" first.
(Note: The PKS candidate lost the Jakarta Governor's race,
but--despite the taint of money politics--captured nearly 45
percent of the vote.) By all accounts, a "sweep out the
bums" party orientation has quickly given way to "if you
can't beat them, join them."

AN OPAQUE LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE


5. (C) A 55-person Syuro Council (Majelis Syuro -- or
"Shura" in Arabic) makes all of the party's key decisions.
The opaque governing body--members are appointed for
five-year terms--meets approximately four times a year. The
Syuro Council developed the 2004 anti-corruption campaign
platform, and according to PKS legislator Zulkieflimansyah,
is developing a new campaign theme for the 2009 national
legislative elections with an eye on expanding the party's
relatively limited support base. The party is not expected
to compete for the presidency in 2009, though a former party
chair is considered vice presidential timber.

A CHICKEN IN EVERY POT?


6. (C) PKS legislator Zulkieflimansyah told emboffs that the
2009 platform will more directly address an issue of
overriding interest to many Indonesians--poverty reduction.
While still a staple of the party's identity, the
anti-corruption campaign could only take the party so far.

JAKARTA 00003153 002 OF 002


According to Zulkieflimansyah, the party would work to
develop a strategy to create jobs and reduce unemployment.
Zulkieflimansyah conceded that the party had so far failed to
articulate a real economic strategy and underscored that
party thinking on the issue was evolving.


7. (C) Zulkieflimansyah told emboffs that PKS would need to
work with Western investors to tackle the job creation issue.
That effort would likely have to include a loosening of the
country's strict labor laws, though he quickly added that
such a move was politically untenable at present for any
party or leader. Nevertheless, according to
Zulkieflimansyah, the party embraced the idea of economic
growth and would work on packaging its economic policies in a
way that would appeal to voters.

PKS GENDER POLICIES


8. (C) Women play virtually no role in the PKS leadership
structure. According to Mission contacts, none of the 55
members of the Syuro Council are women. The party's three
cabinet ministers are also all men. Of the party's 45
legislators, only three, or seven percent, are women (women
hold 12 percent of legislative seats overall). Arguably, the
only leadership role a female PKS party member has taken in
recent memory was last year when parliamentarian Yoyoh Yusroh
publicly backed a controversial draft "pornographic acts" law
with the potential to restrict the rights of women. (Note:
The proposed law, if applied rigorously, could have been used
to prohibit dancing, indigenous clothing in some parts of the
country, and public acts of affection, among other things.)


9. (C) Despite the yawning gap between the role of men and
women in the PKS hierarchy, the party recognizes the
importance of female voters and has taken strides to build up
its support among women accordingly. Women comprise 51
percent of the total population in Indonesia and last year
PKS established a social organization to recruit potential
female votes. According to Zulkieflimansyah, the
group--Sarimah--has successfully attracted women by focusing
on social policy issues like children's welfare, the
"corrosive effects" of television, etc. Zulkieflimansyah
told emboffs that during the recent Jakarta gubernatorial
election (Ref C),the group proved its value by turning out
the female PKS vote in unprecedented numbers.

LOOKING TOWARD 2009


10. (C) With a moderate Islamic image--not a radical
one--PKS has been able to take advantage of the growing tilt
toward Sunni orthodoxy among Indonesian Muslims in recent
years. Despite increasing evidence that the party's stated
goal of obtaining 20 percent of the legislative seats in 2009
is unattainable, PKS still seems poised for a strong showing
in 2009. Only Golkar--Indonesia's largest party--has a
better organized grass root network in place--and with a
strong economic agenda and better female voter outreach--PKS
is likely to continue to grow in a steady manner.
HUME