HOW ISLAMIC PARTIES ORGANIZE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN POST-SUHARTO INDONESIA An Empirical Study of Six Major Islamic Parties In The Tasikmalaya District, West Java Province Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr. rer. pol. im Fach Politischewissenschaft vorgelegt von MADA SUKMAJATI Eingereicht an der Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg im Wintersemester 2010/11 Erster Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Aurel Croissant. Zweiter Gutachter: Prof. Subrata K. Mitra, Ph.D. Erklärung zur Vorlage bei der Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften Hiermit erkläre ich, dass meine Dissertation über das Thema: How Islamic Parties Organize at the Local Level in Post-Suharto Indonesia An Empirical Study of Six Major Islamic Parties In the Tasikmalaya District, West Java Province 1. selbständig angefertigt und andere Quellen und Hilfsmittel als die angegebenen nicht benutzt wurden, 2. in dieser oder einer anderen Form noch an keiner anderen Fakultät vorgelegt worden ist, 3. als Ganzes oder Teile daraus noch nicht anderweitig als Prüfungsarbeit bei einer akademischen oder Staatsprüfung verwendet worden ist. Name und Adresse des Promovenden: Frau / Herrn: Mada Sukmajati Anschrift: Hauptstraße 241, 69117 Heidelberg Tel./E-mail: [email protected] Geburtsdatum: 25 April 1976 Geburtsort: Madiun, Ost-Java, Indonesia Heidelberg, den 31. Januar 2011 Unterschrift: _____________________ Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften Voßstr. 2, D-69115 Heidelberg Telefon: (+49)06221/54-3445, Fax: -3496 www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak18 Abstract Many studies have explored the phenomena of Islamic parties in Indonesia, the largest predominantly Muslim country in the world. However, little effort has been made to explore the organizational structures of Islamic parties in post-Suharto Indonesia. The existing studies have also paid little attention to the role of Islamic parties at the regional level in the implementation of the decentralized system in terms of the relationship between the central and regional governments. This study is an attempt to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the way the Islamic parties at the regional level in post-Suharto Indonesia organize. In doing so, the organization of the Islamic parties is examined in three different dimensions, i.e., the party organization on the ground (political linkage between the Islamic parties and their members or supporters), the party organization in central office (leadership of the Islamic parties), and the party organization in public office (the role of the Islamic parties in policy-making). As the units of analysis, this study selects six major Islamic parties, i.e., the National Mandate Party (Partai Amanat Nasional or PAN), National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa or PKB), Reform Star Party (Partai Bintang Reformasi or PBR), United Development Party (Partai Persatuan Pembangunan or PPP), Justice and Prosperity Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera or PKS) and Star and Crescent Party (Partai Bulan Bintang or PBB). Despite the fact that these parties experienced a significant decrease at the national level, most of them succeeded in maintaining or increasing their level of political support at the regional level. Meanwhile, this study focuses on the Tasikmalaya district as the locus of study because it has become one of the regional bases for these parties to maintain or increase their political achievement. The district also has a long historical root in the Islamic state movement in Indonesia. As a result, Muslims in the district have a strong Islamic sentiment. This study proposes two major findings. Firstly, the way the Islamic political actors organize the Islamic parties in Tasikmalaya district suggests that these parties contain some elements of the elite-based party, mass-based party, electoralist party, and cartel party models. In other words, the Islamic parties in post-Suharto Indonesia have hybrid features. Therefore, the organizational features of the Islamic parties in post-Suharto Indonesia are not completely exceptional or unique compared to the organizational features of party politics in other developing countries. Moreover, the organizational development of the contemporary Islamic parties in Indonesia takes different trajectories. In the case of the PAN and PPP, these parties are in a transitional stage from the mass-based party model to the electoralist party model. The organizational development of the PKS suggests that this party is experiencing a maturation process of the mass-based party model, while the organizational development of the PKB, PBR and PBB shows that these parties are experiencing a stagnation process in the stage of the elite-based party. Secondly, the case of the Tasikmalaya district also indicates that the Islamic political actors in Indonesia rely on rational calculations rather than ideological considerations when they manage their Islamic parties. In this sense, the PBB, PKS, PPP and PBR as the Indonesian Islamist parties have experienced a moderation process. The way these parties organize has not led to the Islamisation of the state, but it has led to the long term Islamisation of society. i Acknowledgements All Praise be unto Allah, the Almighty, for the completion of this doctoral thesis. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Dr. Aurel Croissant as my “Doktorvater” who helped me from the very beginning of my study in Germany. Without his valuable guidance, encouragement and patience, this doctoral thesis would not have been finished. I am also very grateful to Prof. Subrata K. Mitra, Ph.D. for his willingness to be my Co-Supervisor and for the support in finishing my study. This doctoral thesis and my presence in Germany would not have been possible without the role of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) which gave me a scholarship and provided me with a travel grant to Tasikmalaya. I would also thank to Faculty of Social and Political Science at Gadjah Mada University for providing me with generous funds for my field work research. My grateful thanks also go to my colleagues at Department of Political Science and Government Studies at Gadjah Mada University. Academic colleagues at the seminar for political science at Heidelberg University have also contributed to this study. My particular gratitude goes to Philip Völkel, David Kühn, Stephan Giersdorf, Teresa Schaechter and Ejaz Hussain for their useful comments and constructive criticisms. I must also not neglect my Indonesian friends in Heidelberg who have, in their own ways, assisted me during my study: Americhanto and his family, Endang and his family, Imay and her family, Al Makin, Adi, Ikhwan, Yanti, Riki and Budi. Additionally, I need to mention Kevin Evans for providing me information on the result of the 1957 election in Tasikmalaya and Ann-Kristin Jonasson for giving me a copy of her dissertation. For upgrading my English, my thank goes to Cari Adam and Dora Parr. I would like to thank Roni Romansya and Rino Sundawa Putra in Siliwangi University as well as Randi Muchariman and Rachmad Gustomy in Gadjah Mada University for their technical assistance during my field research in Tasikmalaya and Jakarta. My sincere thanks also go to my interview partners who provided their time and shared their experience as well as their valuable information. Last but not least, the greatest honors and appreciations are assigned to my beloved wife, Kanti Anggraini Maika, for her encouragements and patience. I also owe deep gratitude to my mother. I dedicate this humble piece of work to both of them. Although the institutions and persons mentioned above provided significant contributions for my study, I alone take full responsibility for any factual inaccuracies and misinterpretations in this doctoral thesis. ii Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgments ii List of Tables vi List of Figures viii List of Acronyms ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1. Democratization in Indonesia 1 2. Decentralization and Local Politics 5 3. The Rise of Islamic Parties 9 4. Exploring Islamic Parties at the Local Level 15 CHAPTER 2 DEVELOPING AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK 18 1. Rational Choice Institutionalism 18 2. Party Organization and Party Models 23 3. Party Organization in Developing Countries 30 4. The Analytical Framework 34 4.1. The Ideal-Type of the Elite-Based Party Organization 34 4.2. The Ideal-Type of the Mass-Based Party Organization 40 4.3. The Ideal-Type of the Electoralist Party Organization 48 4.4. The Ideal-Type of the Cartel Party Organization 53 4.5. Summary of the Analytical Framework 59 5. Summary 63 CHAPTER 3 METHOD OF THE STUDY 65 1. Qualitative Research 65 2. Case Selection 67 3. Data-Gathering Techniques 68 3.1. In-Depth Interview 69 3.2. Direct Observation 73 3.3. Documentary Analysis 73 4. Data Analysis 74 5. Summary 78 iii CHAPTER 4 THE TASIKMALAYA DISTRICT AND ITS ISLAMIC PARTIES 79 1. The Tasikmalaya District 79 1.1. Local Population 81 1.2. Executive Branch of Government 87 1.3. Political Parties and Legislature 93 2. The Islamic Parties 102 2.1. The PAN 103 2.2. The PKB 107 2.3. The PBR 110 2.4. The PPP 112 2.5. The PKS 115 2.6. The PBB 118 3. Summary 120 CHAPTER 5 ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES OF THE ISLAMIC PARTIES ON THE GROUND 123 1. The PAN: From the Party Organization to Legislative Candidates 123 2. The PKB: Depending on the NU 128 3. The PBR: Relying on Patronage Politics 134 4. The PPP: Maximizing Many Resources 139 5. The PKS: Relying Only on the Party Organization 144 6. The PBB: Between the Ideology and Party Elites 149 7. Conclusion 154 CHAPTER 6 ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES OF THE ISLAMIC PARTIES IN CENTRAL OFFICE 165 1. The PAN: Trying To Build A Modern Organization 165 2. The PKB: Depending on the Party Elites and NU Leaders 171 3. The PBR: Depending on the Party Elite 177 4. The PPP: Towards Oligarchy 181 5. The PKS: Combining Islamic Tenets and Modern Principles 187 6.