Muslim Academics Challenge PKS To Lead Their Own Candidates In The 2024 Election

JAKARTA - Indonesian Muslim academics, Prof. Azyumardi Azra challenged the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to carry the presidential candidate himself in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

According to him, PKS must be able to take a niche voice of the Muslim ummah, considering that the majority of Indonesians are followers of the Muslim religion. In fact, more and more people are showing their Islam.

"It is a challenge for Islamic-based parties, especially PKS, because with the occurrence of economic, social, educational changes in the 80s until now, we see that in Indonesia it is happening as an Islamic awakening," said Prof. Azra in the National Democratic Forum FPKS DPR RI entitled "Modernization of Islam and the Nationality of Indonesia" which was broadcast online, Friday, March 12.

Prof. Azra said that in the past, the followers of Islam might not have been very visible in the country. In contrast to today, where many women wear the headscarf, the building of mosques is increasing and the number of pilgrims from Indonesia increases.

Therefore, it is homework (PR) for PKS to invite the Muslims to vote for the party bearing the 17 grain strands of rice.

"Well, here is the challenge. On the one hand, there has been an increase in Islam in the form of worship, but it shows that people who are closer to Islam do not always vote for Islamic parties," said the man who was born in Padang.

According to him, PKS needs to conduct research on why this increase in Islam does not affect people's desire to choose PKS.

"PKS may need to examine why people, for example, who have increased Islam but feel more comfortable choosing a party that is not based on Islam, but based on Pancasila, for example. So this is a challenge why it happened like that," explained Prof. Azra.

"Since 2009 until 2019 it has not shown it, but only being a mid-level party, it is still difficult to be in the lower rankings. Even though the PKS has recently tended to increase its survey.

The former Chancellor of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah assumed that PKS might have to be tested. Given that the more inclusive a party is, the more likely it is to recruit more voters. "So, how is it inclusive ?," asked Prof. Azra.

"Maybe the more trusted a party, the more people will vote. The greater the trust that the party has no other agenda. People often suspect a party has other agneda, for example," he added.

Prof. Azra reminded that Islamic parties must have the courage to carry their own candidates, not only to complement or accompany other parties. Moreover, PKS is an Islamic party that has the highest vote acquisition in the 2019 Election when compared to PPP.

Meanwhile, PKB, he said, had its political basis, namely Pancasila based on Nahdlatul Ulama. Meanwhile, PAN can no longer be called a Muhammadiyah cadre party because its general chairman is not from that organization.

"This is the PKS challenge in the 2024 General Election. PKS must carry its own presidential candidate. How come there has never been an Islamic party that runs? Do not this Islamic party only become a complement and a companion. Still prefer a complement, sometimes even a complement and the sufferer is even worse," said Prof. . Azra.

"So there are still three years on how to recruit people who according to research have increased their Islam. But why haven't they voted for an Islamic party," he said.