Brief History Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera - PKS) is the transformation of Justice Party (Partai Keadilan – PK), which was established on 20 July 1998 in Jakarta. In the 1999 general election PK won 1.4 million votes. This resulted in 7 seats in the National Parliament level, 26 seats in the provincial level and 163 seats in the district level. The first president of PK, DR. Ir. Nurmahmudi Isma'il, jointed the Cabinet as The State Minister for Forestry and Plantation. Immediately after his appointment as State Minister, DR. Hidayat Nurwahid succeeded Dr. Isma’il as President of PK.
In the past, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Justice Party (PK) often held joint actions over a number of international issues. Finally, in the mid of 2003 the Justice Party officially merged with the Prosperous Justice Party with a united vision, shaping Indonesian public opinion through politics with its principle role as a da'wah (inviting, preaching and missionary) party. This means that da'wah is the principal axis for the party's activities and at the same time reflects the characters of its political activists.
In the lead to the 2004 elections, the party has declared its commitment to fulfill the quota for women in its proposed legislative candidates. PKS believes that the future of Indonesia lies in the hands of a new and qualified generation with good integrity and moral values, excellent intellectual capacity and professional skills. Therefore, PKS is very concern with improvements towards justice and prosperity for all Indonesians. In the 2004 general election PKS was able to substantially increase its influence by winning 45 seats in the National parliament level.
Visions and Missions
General Vision: A da'wah party bringing up justice and prosperity within the unity of the people and the nation.
Particular Vision: An Influential party in terms of politics, participations/contributions and opinions in bringing up a civil society of Indonesia.
These visions lead the Prosperous and Justice Party to be
v A da’wah party that strives Islam as the solution in the life of the nation and country
v A Tran formative force of Islamic values and teachings in the process of redeveloping the people and the nation in various facets of life
v A force that pioneers and unites collaboration with various entities of similar visions in bringing up Islamic system and values as blessings for the universe
v An accelerator for a civil society in Indonesia
Missions: 1. To spread the calls of Islam and to bring up its cadres as agents of change
2. To develop Islamic civil institutions in various area as centers of change and solution
3. To develop Islamic public opinions and climates nurturing the implementation of Islamic teachings for solutions and blessings
4. To develop public political awareness, to offer advocating, services and empowerment of the rights of citizens
5. To stand for enjoining goods and forbidding evils against tyranny consistently and continuously within the frame of Islamic ethics and law
6. To engage actively in communication, friendship, collaboration and good relation with various components or entities of the Muslims in order to achieve Islamic brotherhood and unity, and with various components of nation to strengthen unity in achieving the agenda of reform
7. To contribute positively to stand for justice and against oppression, particularly toward oppressed Muslim countries
Basic Policy In general, the basic policy adopted by PKS is entirely reflected in its manifestation as a Da’wah Party. Da’wah, as understood by PKS, is to provide guidance to the humankind in order for them to get to know their God (rabbaniyah) and aimed to providing solutions to all the problems that they encounter (rahmatan lil ‘alamin). It is the da’wah of this definition that will brings us towards a just brotherhood within humanity, regardless of race and religion. Based on this principle, da’wah has always been at the core of each and every activity carried out by the Party. It has also shaped up the characteristics of the roles of the Party’s activists in the political arena. For that reason, the principles that represent the characteristics of da’wah have been the basis on which the Party’s political policies and operational activities are based.
1. Al-Shumuliyah (Complete and Integrated) In accordance to the Islamic da’wah, that is characterized as complete and integrated, every policy is always made by considering various aspects, by taking different perspectives and by synchronizing one aspect to the others.
2. Al-Islah (Reformative) Each policy, program and move that is made is always orientated to reformation (islah) in the levels of individual, society, government and the state, in order to raise high Allah’s words, to make His Sharia prevail, and to establish His state (daulah).
3. Al-Shar’iyah (Constitutional) Sharia which contains the laws of Allah has determined the relationship between men and Allah (hablun min Allah) and between men and themselves and the others (hablun min al-nas). Strong support, loyalty and commitment to the establishment of sharia in every aspect of life are obliged for every Muslim as the consequence of their faith. The commitment takes place in the form of firmness (al-istimsak) in the truth (al-haq), whole-heartedness and complete trust in Islam as the safe and comprehensive way that has to be established in each aspect of life whilst maintaining flexibility, which is an attribute of the Sharia, and considering legal aspects that are not in contradiction to the Sharia. For the sake of the realization of the freedom in its true meaning, all the rules in Al-Qur’an and Sunnah are made as the basic constitution for every policy, programs and political activities, because the reference to the Sharia in the state governance and law enforcement provides a firm assurance in the realization of the people’s mandate and the suppression of the tyranny.
4. Al-Wasatiyah (Moderate) Muslims are called the “middle nation” (ummatan wasata). This brings up moderate behaviors, thoughts and characteristics in their dealing with various matters. Al-wasatiyah that is one of the attributes of Islam in theoretical and operational aspects, in educational and constitutional aspects, must be reflected in the ideology, perception, ritual worship, moral, ethics, constitution, and every political policy, program and activity of Prosperous Justice Party. In practice, the moderation is also realized in the condemnation to any form of extremity, oppression and wrong-doings.
5. Al-Istiqomah (Committed and Consistent) because strong commitment to Islamic teachings is an attribute of a Muslim, commitment and consistence has to be an inspiration to an Islamic movement. As the consequence, each and every policy, program, and operational move has to be committed and in consistency to “the transcendental laws” that can be found in the natural world and history, His books, and in the Sunna (tradition and saying) of Rasulullah (peace be upon him), consensus of the people, and elaborative essays by the reforming thinkers who are qualified in issuing rules on matters that are not textually covered in the original revelations (the Qur’an and the Sunna). Consistence requires continuity (al-istimrar) in the struggle, which means the existence of correlation to policies and programs made in the past.
6. Al-Numuw wa al-Tathawwur (Progressive and Expansive) The consistence that is attributed to PKS must not result in stagnancy and losing noble creativity. The principle of vertical progressiveness and horizontal expansiveness must be embraced while referencing to the Islamic basic values must still be observed. Based on this, PKS must be concerned with the development of the potency of their human resources in its policies, programs and operations so that they are able to carry out vertical mobilization acceleration and horizontal mobilization widening.
7. Al-Tadarruj wa al-Tawazun (Gradual, Balanced and Proportional) The progressiveness and the expansiveness of the da’wah movement of the party must be done gradually and proportionally, in accordance to the law of Allah (Sunnatullah) that governs the universe. The system of Islam stands on the principles of gradualism and balance. These principles are natural and will not be subjected to changes. Human beings by nature are created in graduation and balance. Therefore, all human acts, especially political acts, which are aimed at deviation from gradualism and balance, will lead to failure and, hence, they can be categorized as a crime towards humanity and the nature. Consequently, gradualism and balance have to underlie each and every activity of the Party, both in terms of its individual activists and its collective organization.
8. Al-Awlawiyah wa Al-Maslahah (Prioritizing and Worthiness) The effectiveness of a movement is determined by, among others, its ability in prioritizing its actions and programs, as everything has its time and turn. Even, good deeds have rewards of different levels (9:19-20), from those that are strategic, political to those that are tactical. Consequently, policies, programs and operational actions have to be in accordance to the vision and mission of the Party. The principle of al-awlawiyat (prioritization) leads to efficiency and effectiveness. Besides, PKS believes that the best Muslims are those who bring most advantages to the humankind. Subsequently, principally the benefit (maslahah) for the people makes the basis for the Party’s policies, programs and actions. All problems faced by the people must be its concern as well. People’s needs must always be considered and given the top priority. Thus, there must be unambiguous inclination towards the needs of the people. These needs must be placed above those of any specific group and individual.
9. Al-Hulul (Solution) PKS, as implied in its name, strives for concrete productive works and will not halt at promises, theories, or activities that are not of any use for the people. Justice and prosperity must be endeavored resourcefully; therefore, the Party and its activists must direct their programs towards being the solutions and realize them in their activities.
10. Al-Mustaqbaliyah (Future-oriented) Three temporal dimensions (the past, the present and the future) are strongly related realities. It is understood that the objective of da’wah, which is the establishment of the religion of Allah on the earth that in turn will deliver justice and prosperity for all humankind, is so noble but demanding that its realization may take such a long time that will only be happening in the future generations. Therefore, it is a must that every policy and program is made by linking all the three temporal dimensions; the past provides the lesson to learn from, the present is the reality and the future is the hope. The present conditions where we are now are the reflection of our past history and they determine the future of ours. It is, therefore, very wise if policies, programs and actions do not disregard the temporal dimensions and are always designed for the future, not only for the sake of ourselves who live at the present time (59:18)
11. Al-‘Alamiyah (Part of Global Da’wah) In principle, any Islamic da’wah movement must have a global vision in parallel to the universality of Islam. This, indeed, has been the very nature of the da’wah. It is an activity that is not limited to certain ethnics, or by state or regional boundaries. This recognition highlights that the existence of our da’wah is part of the da’wah activities around the globe. It is, therefore, essential that every policy made, program planned and step taken is in harmony with the international da’wah strategy and follows the sunnatudda’wah whilst not setting aside specific issues happening locally.
