Jakarta – The future of the United Development Party (PPP), once the only channel for political Islam in the country, is in jeopardy with one of its affiliated organizations threatening to leave the party.
Indonesian Muslims Association (Parmusi) chairman Bachtiar Chamsyah met with Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie on Thursday night, suggesting the organization's plan to leave the PPP and join its erstwhile rival in the Soeharto era.
Parmusi was initially the Indonesian Muslims Party, which was established by former members and supporters of Masyumi, the biggest Islamic party that was second only to Sukarno's Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) during the 1955 election.
Masyumi and the Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI) were later disbanded by Sukarno after some of their leaders were involved in the separatist PRRI movement. In 1973, under Soeharto's orders, Parmusi, Nahdlatul Ulama, the Party of Indonesian Islamic Union (PSSI) and Perti were merged into the PPP.
"It is historically quite unimaginable for Parmusi to leave the PPP," Muslim scholar Fachry Ali told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The organization, he said, used to represent the modern Muslim element within the political party. "They are mostly intellectuals, whose role in the party was very much valued because it showed that it had the support of the intelligentsia."
Bachtiar, a former social welfare minister, said he had not decided whether Parmusi would join Golkar, but made clear that he shared the party's ideas on public welfare. "If one day we have to make a decision, the bright cadres of Parmusi will make the right one," he was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
Bachtiar had reportedly been at odds with PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali. There is speculation that Parmusi and other affiliated organizations plan to abandon the party.
Aburizal, who chairs the ruling coalition's joint secretariat, said his party would welcome Parmusi. "Talks (between the two sides) will go on," he said.
It is difficult to measure the political cost the PPP would suffer should Parmusi defect to Golkar, Fachry said. "But given the party's current state, it would be a heavy toll," he added.
The PPP, which once defeated Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) – the precursor to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) – in Jakarta during the 1977 election, is struggling to keep its constituents after Seoharto's downfall.
During the 1999 election, the party garnered 10.7 percent of the votes and finished third behind the PDI-P and Golkar. In 2004, this figure declined to 8.8 percent before plunging to 6.6 percent in 2009, when it ranked sixth, behind the National Mandate Party (PAN, 7.7 percent) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS, 10.2 percent).
The PKS is now the biggest Islamic party and has ambitious targets for the 2014 election. The PPP, on the other hand, is still mired in internal conflict and lacks the strategy to regain its former constituents, who have turned to PAN or even the Democratic Party, Fachry said.
PPP secretary-general Irgan Chairul Mahfidz played down rumors that Parmusi would leave the party for Golkar. "Parmusi will lose its identity if it joins Golkar," he said, referring to the organization's traditional rivalry with Golkar, which was once seen as a symbol of Soeharto's rule.