internal dynamics of the prosperous justice party and jamaah tarbiyah 53
seductive voice – as if the Sharia Council was so worried that pks female
politicians were unable to understand what was inappropriate conduct
by using their common sense.⁵⁴ The misogynist understanding of gender
relations in the pks is also obvious from the fact that many pks leaders
from different factions – from radical and conservative to pragmatic and
liberal – practise polygamy.
There are female pks politicians who have earned a good reputation
in politics, such as Nur Sanita Nasution, the late Yoyoh Yusroh, and
Ledia Hanifa. They support the interpretation that there are different
obligations and rights between men and women, but that the two sexes
are equal, i.e. that men and women have equal status before God, state and
society. Yet, since they have different biological and psychological natures,
they have different roles, both in private and in public life.⁵⁵ A number
of women have tried to initiate a more progressive understanding, but
the unfortunate consequence was that they were expelled from the party
structure for their efforts.⁵⁶
The pks provides relatively open opportunities for women, and women
politicians and activists participate in every section of the party structure.
Women were among the original founders of the party (five out of 50),
and the party allocates seats for women in every organisational structure.
In the powerful Deliberation Assembly, ten out of 100 members are
women; in the Party Advisory Board three members are women; there
are even two women members of the Sharia Council – something very
unusual for Islamic organisations. In addition, the pks also has a special
department for women, which deals specifically with women’s issues.⁵⁷
The pks also put forward a significant number of female candidates in
the parliamentary elections. During the 2004 elections it had 446 female
candidates for national, provincial and district/mayoral legislatures and
all of them passed the qualification requirements, although there is
no further information on how many of them were actually elected
as members of Parliament. In comparison, the female candidates of
other Muslim parties were as follows: ppp – 497 candidates; pkb – 551
candidates; pan – 554 candidates, and pbb – 372 candidates. With regard
to the recommended 30 per cent quota for female candidates the pks
did even better, and fulfilled the quota in 65 electoral regions (Daerah
Pemilihan). This was the highest number compared to other parties: the
pan and pkb managed to achieve this in 45 regions, the pbb in 42 regions
Permata, ‘Islamist Party and Democratic Participation’.
Interview with Nur Sanita, Jakarta.
Interview with Arief Munandar.
Interview with pks member of Parliament Yoyoh Yusroh, 21 June 2007.