Jakarta – Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) Executive Board Chairperson for Regional Affairs, Tifatul Sembiring, has warned the newly formed People’s Wave Party (Gelora) not to poach members from other political parties.
Sembiring made the statement after the formation of the Gelora Party which was initiated by former PKS leaders Anis Matta and Fahri Hamzah.
Sembiring said it would be more elegant to form a party with new figures rather than recruit cadre from other parties. He gave the example of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) which has given birth to new leaders since it was established in 2014.
“Develop new ones like the PSI for example, be fair okay. New ideas, new figures, yes otherwise please go ahead, people are free it’s a democracy right”, said Sembiring during a PKS national coordinating meeting at the Bidakara Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday November 14.
The former Minister for Communication and Information said that forming a new political party is a democratic right. However any political party would be offended if its cadre are poached by another party.
Aside from this, Sembiring asked that PKS cadre not become members of the Gelora Party at the same time. He insisted that PKS cadre must leave the PKS first if they want to join Gelora. He does not want cadre to be poached from within the party.
“We hope it won’t go that far, for me it’s a free choice, but if you’ve already chosen (Gelora) please leave the PKS first. Don’t as term goes straddle two camps, continue to recruit cadre from inside”, he said.
Sembiring even made insinuations against Gelora doubting the party’s potential to compete with the PKS. “We’ll see later if they’re supported by the public or not”, he said.
Earlier, several former leading PKS members declared a new political party called the Gelora Party. The new party is chaired by former PKS president Anis Mata. Several other former prominent PKS leaders hold leadership positions such as Fahri Hamzah and Mahfudz Siddiq.
Former PKS advisory board member Triwisaksana also switched sides and joined the Gelora Party wagon. Triwisaksana claims that he resigned from the PKS on November 9 then registered as a founder of the Gelora Party.
“Yes, automatically [I left the PKS], on my own accord”, Triwisaksana told CNN Indonesia on Wednesday November 13. (dhf/wis)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Anis Matta Bentuk Gelora, PKS Minta Tak Ada Pembajakan Kader”.]
