Political Parties

Had two dinners on Bali – one with a political party group PKS and another with a group of academics. PKS is a political party. It is Islamic in its general view and against corruption. This, at least, is how they describe themselves. When I write that sentence “Islamic and Against Corruption” does it mean anything to you as you read it? Probably it means a lot and it means nothing. We all know what, very roughly, what “Islamic” means – pertaining to Islam. And we all know what “corruption” means.

When I met with other parties they explained their platforms in similar ways. "Islamic Values (sometimes "Indonesian Values" and against corruption. I didn't find any parties against islam or for corruption. Beyond that, they really can't tell you much about why they are different on policy issues from the other party. They are shifting alliances, some rooted in pre-existing national organizations (Golkar -- previous rulers and a few others aligned with national Islamic movements)Except we don’t.), some built a around leaders, some just trying to make their way in a new Democracy and all organized to take a share of power. Differentiation on policy ideas is not very strong and differentiation on performance will have to wait for more time.