Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the biggest Islamic party in Indonesia, says a plan to bestow the country's longest-serving president, Soeharto, with the title of national hero, needed to be studied.
Even though the PKS supported the idea in 2008, the party's secretary-general, Mustafa Kamal, said the legislature had to review the plan.
"It could be done by House of Representatives Commission VIII as a partner of the Social Affairs Ministry because that ministry issues the title," Mustafa said as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.
When asked why the party nominated Soeharto as a national hero in 2008, he said that it was not the party's decision, but merely a decision made by one of its members.
Soeharto has been nominated by the Golkar Party, his regime's main supporter, to receive the prestigious title three times since 2010, but to no avail because of growing opposition from activists, citing records of his role in a number of human rights abuses during his time as president.
This year, he is among four people under consideration by the Social Affairs Ministry to receive the prestigious title.