Coalition Of Islamic Parties Difficult To Realize: Mahfud

Tangerang, Banten, Nov 13 (Antara) - Former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD has expressed pessimism over a plan by a number of Islamic parties to form a coalition ahead of parliamentary elections in April next year. "To me, the idea is good, but it might not work as expected," he said after a public discussion at State Islamic Syarif Hidayatullah University here on Wednesday. Mahfud, who has often been projected as a potential presidential candidate, said the idea of a coalition had already been in existence for a long time but was not realized so far because it was intended for only fighting opposing groups in the elections. "Because each party has its own wishes, the coalition breaks," he noted. Mahfud pointed out that even if an agreement was reached, some of the members would likely leave in order to monitor non-Islamic parties and act as a safeguard. He said ideologically, he did not view parties as Islamic or non-Islamic because every party�s aim is similar: to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people. He claimed he would rather call them Islamic groups than parties because other parties also had Islamic clerics as their members, but they never claimed to be Islamic parties. "All political parties have Islamic clerics, and so they cannot claim to be non-Islamic parties. So, it would be better if focus were placed on choosing leaders who can improve the welfare of the people," he said. Islamic parties have so far never won significant votes in the country`s general elections. That is why the idea of a coalition has emerged. Only parties that win 25 percent of national votes in the next parliamentary elections are allowed to nominate their presidential candidates. Those who fail to win the required percentage of votes have to form a coalition if they wish to nominate their own candidate.