internal dynamics of the prosperous justice party and jamaah tarbiyah 43
leadership. When Suharto eventually stepped down and a new democratic
government was formed, followed by the opening-up of the political
system, jt activists discussed whether they should take the chance to
participate in the competition for power. Opinion was split among jt’s
central leadership, and so they decided to hold a vote. More than 6,000
questionnaires were distributed within their networks with three options:
joining the political competition by creating a political party, joining
with another, existing political party, or remaining non-political but
going public. Fifty-six per cent of the votes returned were for the first
option.
A political party called Partai Keadilan was established in 1998. During
the 1999 elections it garnered 1.7 per cent of the national vote and failed to
pass the electoral threshold required by law to allow a party to participate
in the next elections. With only seven seats in Parliament it merged
with Amien Rais’ pan, joining forces to push for new amendments
to the constitution that would prevent the military from returning to
power. During the short-lived Abdurrahman Wahid presidency, the pk
received one ministerial post (forestry), but this did not last long as the
minister was sacked by President Wahid for arresting and bringing to trial
powerful businessmen for illegal logging, in fear of political retaliation
by their business network. During Megawati’s presidency, she offered the
pk another ministerial post, but the party declined, on the ground that it
rejected a female president, and she was perceived as being supported by
secular and Christian politicians.
To be able to continue its participation in politics, the jt needed
to establish a new political party. It did so in 2003 and founded Partai
Keadilan Sejahtera, using pk’s organisational networks and leadership.
In the 2004 elections it surprisingly tripled its share of the vote to 7.3
per cent, and secured 45 seats in Parliament. In return for supporting
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s presidential candidacy it received three
ministerial posts: housing, agriculture, and youth and sport. In the 2009
elections it won 7.8 per cent of the vote, collected 57 parliamentary
seats and became the biggest Islam-based political party. It also received
four ministers: Science and Technology, Agriculture, Information and
Communication, and Social Affairs. Interestingly, although its percentage
increased, the actual votes the party collected decreased from 8,325,020
votes in 2004 to 8,206,955 in 2009.
2.2 Legacy of Domestic Islam-based Political Activism
A closer observation, however, reveals that the history of the jt did not
start at its foundation, and its history did not emerge out of the blue.