6 - TOWARDS A HOME-GROWN DEMOCRACY? On the Meliorist Islamist Acceptance of Democracy

Summary

CRAFTING ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY: THE NEW ERA OF POLITICAL ISLAM

It must be emphasized from the outset that although PKS does not explicitly refer to Islam in its name, it claims to be an Islamic party. PKS was established in 1998 under the original name Justice Party (Partai Keadilan, or PK) by university-based dakwah activists from the so-called Tarbiyah (literally, “religious education”) movement. At the time the party was established, Tarbiyah was a closed movement whose members were carefully selected and inducted into a programme designed to inculcate religious pietism. PK was founded by some of the leaders of the Tarbiyah movement following the downfall of Soeharto's New Order regime in 1998. Much of its support came from campus-based Islamist groups and young graduates who had been active in Tarbiyah circles.

According to Anthony Bubalo and Greg Fealy, the decision of some Tarbiyah leaders in 1998 to form PK(S) was as a reaction to the post-Soeharto lifting of politically repressive measures and the belief that it was now time to move into a new stage focused on formal politics and popular appeal. The exclusivity of Tarbiyah thus gave way to a more inclusive and outwardlooking approach. By the time of the 1999 election, PK claimed to have about 60,000 members. When the party announced its re-formation under the name PKS in mid-2003, it already had more than 300,000 members. The party consciously recruited members from a non-Tarbiyah background to broaden its appeal and, in the 2004 election, fielded more than thirty non-Muslim legislative candidates.

While Tarbiyah members regarded the Islamization of society, the economy, and the state as a cornerstone of their struggle, PKS downplayed these issues in the 1999 and 2004 elections, emphasizing instead “secular” and popular themes such as fighting corruption, socio-economic equality, and the need for clean and good governance. Party leaders made clear that their stance on these issues was informed by Islamic norms, but they usually conveyed their electoral messages in religiously neutral rhetoric. This is not to say that PKS leaders had abandoned their earlier commitment to Islamist causes; rather, they argued that it was premature and ultimately counterproductive to take such issues to the broader electorate.