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JAKARTA
POST, 16 Mei 2013
Supporters of the Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS) must hate the Internet right now. The party has long been a target of
online mockery for its perceived self-righteousness. But in the past, it always
managed to prove its critics wrong, until the Corruption Eradication Commission
(KPK) arrested and detained its former leader, Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, on
corruption charges.
This is undeniably the hardest time for PKS members. Their leaders are being summoned to the KPK, while gossip shows on TV are linking the nation’s largest Islamic party to the steamy scandals involving Ahmad Fathanah, a friend of Luthfi’s who is also the key suspect in the beef graft scandal.
For its critics, the scandal seems to confirm their long-held suspicions that the party is no different from any other political party.
It did not take long for the ever-creative online citizens to mock the party as Partai Korupsi Sapi (the Beef Graft Party) when the scandal broke in January.
I do not intend to bully the PKS. I am against bullying, but I know the way PKS members have been dealing with the scandal is not going to stop the bullies. It does not help that the party has chosen to make a case against the KPK for trying to do its job. Such a move will not only further tarnish the party’s image, it may also expose the flaw in the party’s political ideology.
Since the arrest of Luthfi, party members have been very defensive and airing suspicions that Luthfi and the party have been framed. They believe the graft allegation leveled against their former leader is the work of a conspiracy. Senior PKS politician Hidayat Nurwahid surmised that the Jews might have had a hand in it.
Meanwhile, another senior PKS politician, Tifatul Sembiring, was busy tweeting about the murky past of Fathanah, who several PKS politicians have alleged is a secret agent assigned to destroy the party.
In short, the party is struggling to distance itself from Fathanah, whom it has repeatedly accused of using Luthfi’s name for his own gains.
Of course, the party has the right to defend Luthfi and it is only natural for its members to defend their former leader. After all, Luthfi is innocent until he is proven guilty in court but a court has not proven Fathanah guilty yet either. Why does the PKS believe Fathanah could be guilty, and not Luthfi?
It is hard to dismiss the impression that PKS members just do not believe their top leaders are capable of committing corruption. Unlike other parties, the PKS claims to carefully select its top leaders through a multi-layered recruitment process to ensure that no bad apples are chosen.
The party’s leadership is officially held by the majlis syura (religious council), some members of which are elected in a general election involving all party members and some others appointed by the elected members. Not all members can run for a seat in this powerful council. Only those who have passed certain recruitment stages are eligible to run.
As a party built by the tarbiyah (educational) movement, PKS members are taught and trained to obey their murabbi (personal patron) and qiyadah (party leadership). This is why the party has the ability to easily mobilize its militant membership at any time. As an Islamist party, PKS members believe that obeying their leaders and the party is a religious duty.
This system may prove effective in ensuring the party’s political machine runs effectively but it surely proves detrimental to nurturing internal democratic values as party members tend to see their leaders as infallible, as ulil amri (power holders) the Koran says must be obeyed.
It is worth noting that not a single top PKS politician has publicly said anything about the need to evaluate the oversight mechanism, if any, of its top leaders in the wake of the scandal. They all seem to take for granted that Luthfi is innocent. No one has criticized him for dealing with Fathanah — who is believed to be a womanizer with a long criminal record — in the first place.
It is more troubling for the party that Fathanah personally knows Hilmi Aminuddin, who chairs the majlis syura and — along with his predecessor, Salim Segaf Al-Jufri — will serve in the majlis syura for life.
Instead of merely pointing their fingers at Fathanah, should not PKS members begin to ponder why Luthfi could so easily be dragged into Fathanah’s mischief?
It is revealed that Luthfi and Fathanah were reported to the police in 2005 for a business scam. Luthfi managed to escape charges at the time, but Fathanah was convicted and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. That was a warning. If Fathanah was known to have a bad track record, should someone within the party not have sounded the alarm when he approached Luthfi?
The problem with political Islam is the inability of those who believe in it to differentiate between the religious (absolute) and the secular (relative). They fail to realize that political leaders are human beings who make mistakes, and that people should be able to confront them when they do.
This is what seems to be happening with the PKS. While the secular parties are beset by cartel politics, the PKS is blinded by its own ideology. It appears that PKS activists are failing to acknowledge that their top leaders are no angels and should be subject to their scrutiny too.
If that is the case, they could inadvertently protect their corrupt leaders in the name of religious devotion. That, in my view, is worse than whatever Fathanah did. ●
This is undeniably the hardest time for PKS members. Their leaders are being summoned to the KPK, while gossip shows on TV are linking the nation’s largest Islamic party to the steamy scandals involving Ahmad Fathanah, a friend of Luthfi’s who is also the key suspect in the beef graft scandal.
For its critics, the scandal seems to confirm their long-held suspicions that the party is no different from any other political party.
It did not take long for the ever-creative online citizens to mock the party as Partai Korupsi Sapi (the Beef Graft Party) when the scandal broke in January.
I do not intend to bully the PKS. I am against bullying, but I know the way PKS members have been dealing with the scandal is not going to stop the bullies. It does not help that the party has chosen to make a case against the KPK for trying to do its job. Such a move will not only further tarnish the party’s image, it may also expose the flaw in the party’s political ideology.
Since the arrest of Luthfi, party members have been very defensive and airing suspicions that Luthfi and the party have been framed. They believe the graft allegation leveled against their former leader is the work of a conspiracy. Senior PKS politician Hidayat Nurwahid surmised that the Jews might have had a hand in it.
Meanwhile, another senior PKS politician, Tifatul Sembiring, was busy tweeting about the murky past of Fathanah, who several PKS politicians have alleged is a secret agent assigned to destroy the party.
In short, the party is struggling to distance itself from Fathanah, whom it has repeatedly accused of using Luthfi’s name for his own gains.
Of course, the party has the right to defend Luthfi and it is only natural for its members to defend their former leader. After all, Luthfi is innocent until he is proven guilty in court but a court has not proven Fathanah guilty yet either. Why does the PKS believe Fathanah could be guilty, and not Luthfi?
It is hard to dismiss the impression that PKS members just do not believe their top leaders are capable of committing corruption. Unlike other parties, the PKS claims to carefully select its top leaders through a multi-layered recruitment process to ensure that no bad apples are chosen.
The party’s leadership is officially held by the majlis syura (religious council), some members of which are elected in a general election involving all party members and some others appointed by the elected members. Not all members can run for a seat in this powerful council. Only those who have passed certain recruitment stages are eligible to run.
As a party built by the tarbiyah (educational) movement, PKS members are taught and trained to obey their murabbi (personal patron) and qiyadah (party leadership). This is why the party has the ability to easily mobilize its militant membership at any time. As an Islamist party, PKS members believe that obeying their leaders and the party is a religious duty.
This system may prove effective in ensuring the party’s political machine runs effectively but it surely proves detrimental to nurturing internal democratic values as party members tend to see their leaders as infallible, as ulil amri (power holders) the Koran says must be obeyed.
It is worth noting that not a single top PKS politician has publicly said anything about the need to evaluate the oversight mechanism, if any, of its top leaders in the wake of the scandal. They all seem to take for granted that Luthfi is innocent. No one has criticized him for dealing with Fathanah — who is believed to be a womanizer with a long criminal record — in the first place.
It is more troubling for the party that Fathanah personally knows Hilmi Aminuddin, who chairs the majlis syura and — along with his predecessor, Salim Segaf Al-Jufri — will serve in the majlis syura for life.
Instead of merely pointing their fingers at Fathanah, should not PKS members begin to ponder why Luthfi could so easily be dragged into Fathanah’s mischief?
It is revealed that Luthfi and Fathanah were reported to the police in 2005 for a business scam. Luthfi managed to escape charges at the time, but Fathanah was convicted and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. That was a warning. If Fathanah was known to have a bad track record, should someone within the party not have sounded the alarm when he approached Luthfi?
The problem with political Islam is the inability of those who believe in it to differentiate between the religious (absolute) and the secular (relative). They fail to realize that political leaders are human beings who make mistakes, and that people should be able to confront them when they do.
This is what seems to be happening with the PKS. While the secular parties are beset by cartel politics, the PKS is blinded by its own ideology. It appears that PKS activists are failing to acknowledge that their top leaders are no angels and should be subject to their scrutiny too.
If that is the case, they could inadvertently protect their corrupt leaders in the name of religious devotion. That, in my view, is worse than whatever Fathanah did. ●
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