Yuli Tri Suwarni and Arya Dipa, Bandung – Incumbent candidate Suryadharma Ali retained his post as United Development Party (PPP) chairman on Tuesday and vowed to return the waning Islamic party to its glory days with fresh support from clerics who defected to new Islamic parties after Soeharto's downfall.
In a vote preceded by a fierce contention, Suryadharma won in a landslide with 859 votes, leaving behind his competitors, Akhmad Muqowam and Ahmad Yani, with 281 votes and 39 votes, respectively.
According to election committee head Hasrul Azwar, 1,184 PPP members representing the party's branches in 33 provinces cast their votes in the seventh PPP congress that ended on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists shortly after his election, Suryadharma said he was optimistic that the PPP would be able to increase its membership to 12 million under his leadership, which would help it compete with other parties in the upcoming elections. "The target should be reached within three years," he said.
The PPP is one of three parties formed under Soeharto's authoritarian regime, along with Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party, which changed their names to the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
Established in 1973 by four major Islamic parties – the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Party, the Islamic Education Movement (Perti), The Indonesian Muslim Party (Parmusi) and the Islamic Association Party (PSII) – the PPP was initially intended to serve as the sole channel for political Islam in the predominantly Muslim country. With the new Islamic parties formed after Soeharto's fall, PPP popularity declined.
During the 1999 polls, it made it into the big four with 10.71 percent of the votes. A decade later, the party only garnered 5.32 percent and was outdone by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a party led by young Muslims inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
Suryadharma said a number of clerics who left the PPP to form or join new Islamic parties in the reform era had returned to the party. This would significantly boost party performance in 2014, he added.
Suryadharma, in his capacity as the Religious Affairs Minister, met with pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) leaders. In February, 120 clerics heading Islamic boarding schools in North Sumatra expressed willingness to join the party. Critics, including leaders of the Muslim-based National Awakening Party (PKB), accused him of neglecting his duties and abusing his ministerial position to seek political support.
Though several PPP politicians believe he is to blame for the poor showing in the 2009 elections, most party members believe he did well as minister and improved party leverage in the Democratic Party-led government coalition.
The PPP is aiming to become a unifier for the fragmented political Islam forces, which many said led to the demise of Islamic parties including the Crescent Star Party (PBB) led by Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
PPP and PBB leaders are reportedly discussing an alliance to balance the dominant nationalist parties in the 2014 general election, though no official statement has been made on whether the two parties will merge.
Suryadharma said that unity was the key to success and that he would include his competitors, Yani and Muqowam, in the new lineup in the party's executive body. "Internal political reconciliation is essential. To manage a party, we need cadres who share the same vision," he said
Yani conceded his defeat and congratulated Suryadharma after the election. "I respect democracy and concede Suryadharma's victory. I call on Muqowam to do the same," he said.