Camelia Pasandaran – The United Development Party, or PPP, is pushing for the formation of a coalition of Islamic parties in order to shift the balance of political power in the country, party officials said on Friday.

Rommy Hermiji, deputy secretary general of the PPP, said that there were too many Islamic parties at the moment, which worked against their own interests.

The proposal came after several survey firms suggested that Islamic parties could languish at or near the bottom of this year's legislative elections.

The independent Indonesian Survey Institute recently released a poll showing three parties – Golkar, the Democratic Party, and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle – opening up a clear lead over the rest of the field ahead of April's legislative elections.

The poll showed only 3.3 percent of respondents supporting the PPP, while the National Awakening Party, or PKB, led all Muslim-based parties with support from a mere 4.8 percent of respondents.

A coalition of Islamic parties means that we can present an alternative presidential candidate said Rommy Hermiji, deputy secretary general of the PPP. A coalition would consolidate support for all Islamic parties and turn it into a major political force, the PPP said.

Rommy said that while forming a coalition of Islamic parties ahead of this year's elections was not possible, the parties could unite in the future to come up with the 25 percent of total votes necessitated by law for a party or coalition of parties to field a presidential candidate.

"A coalition means that we can present an alternative presidential candidate," Rommy said.

Emron Panggapi, organization division head of the PPP, said that voters in this year's presidential elections would be plagued by a lack of alternative options. "Voters can only choose between [former president] Megawati and [incumbent] Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," he said.

The difficulty of forming a coalition from among Indonesia's doctrinally and ideologically diverse Muslim parties was not lost on PPP officials, however. Rommy said that an attempt to form a coalition these days would have to be different from past attempts.

"This time, Islamic parties should be allowed to band together at their own bidding," he said. "In the past, the government pushed Islamic parties to form a coalition. As a result, several parties were forced to abandon their identity and ideology."

Under former president Suharto's rule, the PPP was one of three officially sanctioned political parties, and acted as an umbrella for a variety of Muslim-based groups.

Despite their 2004 performance, in which the PPP only mustered less than ten percent of votes, party leaders maintain that the PPP could grab up to 15 percent of the electorate with the return of several high-profile Islamic leaders to its fold.

"Zainuddin MZ and Rhoma Irama have thousands of followers," Emron said.