internal dynamics of the prosperous justice party and jamaah tarbiyah 73
this time the pks no longer understands it as a logical consequence of
its ideological formulations, but rather as a strategy to attract public
sympathy.
An example of the populist orientation of pks policies is its selection
of cabinet portfolios, in which it prefers ministerial posts that have direct
access to the public, such as Social Affairs, Housing, Agriculture and
Youth and Sports. It is through such populist ministries that the party
can promote itself to the vast networks in society, especially among the
economically lower classes that comprise the majority of Indonesian
voters. As seen from previous discussions, pks leaders preferred ministers
with direct access to the public as it is interested in promoting its ideology
and programmatic agenda. Yet, in later years, it has not only promoted its
ideological agenda, but also its political profile. There are other interesting
facts about pks public offices. It seeks to extract as many resources as
possible from every office it holds. It mobilises party functionaries as
assistants and aides for its ministers, even replacing housekeepers of
prayer rooms in the offices with party members. The pks also maximises
the collaboration of networks of its public officers, for example West
Java governor Ahmad Heryawan, a senior jt activist and reputed rally
organiser, received many awards – normally followed by grants and other
subsidies – from pks ministers.⁹⁸
The pks also exhibits inconsistent patterns in policymaking, as can be
seen in the case of the oil prices. During Yudhoyono’s first presidential
term, the pks initially rejected the government’s plan to increase the oil
price on the ground that it would worsen economic conditions in society.
Then, it supported it on the ground that it should conform as a coalition
partner. During the second term of Yudhoyono’s presidency, the pks
again played with the oil price issue, this time by supporting a proposal
from opposition parties to increase the oil price when the government
opted for the opposite. In this case, it seems that the pks was playing two
different games at the same time: firstly, it tested the waters in relation to
both the governing party as well as the opposition; and secondly, it played
at internal power bargaining between its central board and its ministers
in public office, as there had been continuous tension between general
secretary, Anis Matta, and former party president, Tifatul Sembiring,
who was the Minister of Information and Technology. The idea was that
the central board was capable of causing or preventing trouble for the
party’s ministers and, thus, the latter needed to comply with the former.⁹⁹
www.ahmadheryawan.com/8-profil-ahmad-heryawan/3333-daftar-penghargaan.
http://www.tempo.co/read/fokus/2012/03/24/2316/Kenaikan-Harga-BBM
-PKS-Dituding-Berpolitik-Dua-Muka.