Introducing Amien Rais' New Party, His Name Is Not PAN Reforms But Ummat Party

Amien Rais at an event (Photo: PAN.or.id)

JAKARTA - Through a video that lasts almost three minutes, former Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais announced the new name of his party. It is not called PAN Reformasi as it has been calling for so far, this party is called the Ummat Party.

"Insyaallah, the Ummat Party is determined to work and fight with the other nation's children," Amien said in a video uploaded to Amien Rais Official's YouTube account on Thursday, October 1.

In the video, the former chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) said that his new party would fight against injustice and uphold justice. In addition, this new party will work and struggle to uphold Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and universal democratic rules.

Furthermore, he explained, this party will always carry out Allah's orders in the holy Koran. There are two things that he alluded to, first upholding virtue and eradicating evil. Second, uphold justice and eradicate injustice.

"If the former moves more at the personal, familial, and communal level at a more micro level. Then the second moves more at the national level, at the macro level and is closely related to issues of power," he said.

Before closing his statement, Amien considered that the current state could carry out political injustice because it had complete facilities and a large apparatus. "But only the state is capable of upholding justice for all its people. It all depends on the government which is in power. Whether it is defending the interests of the people and the ummah, or vice versa, is defending the interests of conglomerates and corporates," he said.

So that in the future this party will become a group of people who strive to uphold justice and fight injustice systematically through political struggles.

"And in the end a group of human beings must be committed to upholding justice as well as against injustice systematically through political struggles," he said.

Previously, Amien Rais loyalist who was also a founder of PAN, Putra Jaya Husen said that this new party would not have anything to do with the National Mandate Party (PAN).

"There is no relationship at all (with PAN, red). It's really a new name," he said when contacted.

He said that since the beginning, Amien's new party would not use the name of the old party, even though there were suggestions that wanted that name. The reason was that the internal majority of the party did not agree to use a name that contained any elements of PAN because the party was not in accordance with the original purpose of its formation.

"That was the initial idea because my friends argued that the old party did not carry out its original purpose when it was formed, in which the party must stand firmly to defend the interests of the people," he said.

Apart from the question of name, Putra also said that Amien would announce the party's statutes. Meanwhile, regarding the structural issue of the new party, he said it would not be announced yet.

"The logo and the composition of the party's DPP management will be announced at the declaration of the new party, later this year," he said.

Although the management of the party has not yet been announced, Putra emphasized that now more and more parties are joining his party.

"More and more people joined but it is still a secret," he said.