Febriamy Hutapea – The Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, stepped up its communication with other Islam-based parties on Thursday night with a discussion about a possible coalition in the July presidential election.

The event was jointly held with Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party, or PKB, and Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin of the United Development Party, or PPP.

Ahmad Mabruri, chairman of the PKS's central board, said the Islamic parties could potentially create a strong coalition that would have much greater bargaining power in its relations with other major parties.

"If we can team up with other Islamic parties, including the National Mandate Party [PAN], we could secure at least 30 percent of the vote," he said, "and then we will have secured the election."

Under the election law, a party or coalition of parties has to secure at least 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives or 25 percent of the national vote in order to nominate a presidential candidate.

Lukman said that Islam-based parties would be important in complementing other likely presidential campaigns featuring President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla or former President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"No matter what the lineup, they must be opposed by our Islamic parties," Lukman said, adding that the PPP had also intensified communication with other Islamic parties.

Kalla, who is chairman of Golkar Party, paid a visit last week to the PKS office to participate in a similar dialogue. The visit came after Kalla's announcement two weeks ago that he was prepared to accept a Golkar nomination to contend for the presidency.

The PKS was also mentioned as a potential coalition partner with Golkar, which currently has the largest membership in the House. However, Kalla claimed the meeting was only aimed at keeping lines of communication open between the two parties.

Mabruri said the party had also invited both Megawati and Yudhoyono but neither had paid a visit to the PKS office. "There's been no response," he said. "Maybe they are busy enough with their various activities."

Mabruri said it was Golkar that was first in suggesting building communication between the two parties. Anas Urbaningrum, chair of the political affairs unit of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, or PD, said his party welcomed the opportunity to talk with others about the future of the country.

He said that ideally the PD general chairman, Hadi Utomo, would be invited to speak with the PKS. "It's better for Hadi to visits the PKS as he is the chairman," Anas said.

He said the PD was open to partnership with other parties, including the PKS. "The PKS is one of our close friends, with its vision not much different from our own," Anas said.