Margareth S. Aritonang and Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The United Development Party (PPP), the oldest Islamic party in the country, has officially nominated party chairman and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali as its presidential candidate as it seeks to form an alliance of Islam-based parties ahead of the 2014 election.
"He [Suryadharma] is the right person because we need someone to represent a political party that reflects the strength of Islam like the PPP," Hasrul Azwar, leader of the PPP faction at the House of Representatives said on Tuesday.
Hasrul added that the PPP was confident with Suryadharma's nomination due to his years of experience as a lawmaker and government official.
He emphasized that criticism of Suryadharma's "controversial" policies as the religious affairs minister would not affect his presidential ticket because of his "understanding of state issues".
Pro-pluralism activists, who have often criticized Suryadharma for his failure to stem rising intolerance in the country, said they were not concerned by Suryadharma's presidential bid.
Catholic priest Benny Susetyo said he doubted the PPP would be able to acquire the minimum of 20 percent of seats at the House of Representatives that would allow it to appoint a presidential candidate. He argued that the minister had failed to garner support and sympathy from the public due to his failure to champion religious tolerance.
"This candidacy gives us nothing to worry about. It is actually good in the sense of democracy because the public will have a wider selection of presidential candidates," Benny said on Tuesday.
"However, as the public has also acknowledged, the PPP represents a very specific segment and fails to represent the whole nation. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that the party would collect enough votes to appoint him as presidential candidate," he said.
Suryadharma has been continuously criticized by activists for calling the Shiite branch of Islam heretical because it deviated from mainstream Islamic teachings. He also made similar comments about the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect.
Following Suryadharma's presidential nomination, the PPP asked other Islamic-based parties to collaborate in the presidential election in order to achieve the minimum presidential threshold, a proposal quickly declined due to the irrelevance of the coalition of Islamic parties in the democratic political arena.
Hidayat Nur Wahid from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) told reporters that the party would prefer to join a "more open coalition".
"It is no longer relevant to make such an alliance. We need to work together with the non Islamic parties to garner trust from the public. Otherwise we will fail to ensure potential voters cast their votes in the election," Hidayat said.