Mafoot Simon – The indoor stadium turned into a sea of white. Some 10,000 supporters of the Islamic-based Justice Party (PKS) crowded into an area no longer than six basketball courts. Outside, many more jostled to get in to hear party leader Hidayat Nurwahid deliver a broadside against corruption in Indonesia.

Waving white flags embellished with the PKS logo of a Kaaba, they punctuated the fiery sermons with shouts of Allahu Akbar as Mr Hidayat warned them against voting for parties doling out money to buy votes.

Riding on the anti-corruption platform, the PKS is one of very few Islamic parties that could see a significant increase in votes in the April 5 parliamentary election.

Established five years ago, it may well buck the trend of nationalist-secular resurgence across Indonesia. In 1999, the PKS secured 1.4 per cent of the national vote. This year, it could cross the electoral threshold of 3 per cent and get as much as 5 per cent, political observers say. Party leaders are confident of getting much more – perhaps 10 per cent.

Mr Achmad Agus Subagio, a divisional leader of the party in Tasikmalaya in West Java, told The Straits Times: "We will do well. We have been preparing for this election five years ago." The party now has 300,000 cadres all over Indonesia and 13 overseas branches in countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia and Germany.

It has also been making its mark through relief programmes in areas affected by natural calamities such as the earthquake in Nabire, Papua, that killed 35 people in February.

In its media campaign, the party is also portraying itself as one that belongs to all strata of society. One TV commercial features a cross-section of Indonesians – from artistes to housewives, trishaw riders and even Chinese – giving their testimonies about the party. On radio, the PKS is marketed as a party for everyone.

Unlike other Islamic parties, it does not promote syariah laws to win votes.

While some view the party as a radical group for its frequent demonstrations on global Islamic issues involving Muslims in Afghanistan and Palestine, others consider it moderate because the protests have been peaceful.

Analysts to whom The Straits Times spoke did not disagree that the party could get more votes than in 1999, but they did not think its support would exceed 5 per cent. Political analyst Muhammad Qodari of Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI) noted that the PKS promoted itself as a clean party that wanted to fight corruption.

But a survey by LSI late last year showed that 68 per cent of the respondents considered the economy a major problem confronting the country while only 5 per cent thought that corruption was the issue. "Even if PKS manages to win every single vote from this group, it will only get 5 per cent of the votes," Mr Qodari argued, referring to the percentage of those who consider corruption a major problem.