Members of Muhammadiyah have formed a new political party, Partai Matahari Bangsa.

The Partai Matahari Bangsa (PMB), "National Sun Party", was actually first brought into being all the way back on 8th January 2006 but is to be officially "soft launched" on 26th November.

Those behind the formation of PMB appear to be, exclusively, young members of Muhammadiyah, particularly those who belong to Angkatan Muda Muhammadiyah (AMM) in Sumatra. [1] At Lebaran of this year some of the PMB founders asked for the blessing of former Muhammadiyah leader Amien Rais but it is unclear if any such blessing were given.

Despite the fact that members of his group founded the party Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin says the PMB is nothing to do with his organisation. If members want to form political parties on their own that is their right as citizens, he says. [2]

The leader of the South Sumatra branch of Muhammadiyah, Novrizal, agrees and says that many of the aspirations of Muhammadiyah people are yet to be satisfied politically and that is the reason for the party's foundation. The party will likely have his support however: [3]

But because it comes from [Muhammadiyah] youth we will support it. But remember, the PMB is not a Muhammadiyah party, the inspiration for it just comes from our youth.

The party is likely to draw most of its active membership from Muhammadiyah's many ancillary organisations, such as Pemuda Muhammadiyah, Ikatan Mahasiswa Muhammadiyah (IMM), Ikatan Remaja Muhammadiyah (IRM), Tapak Suci Putra Muhammadiyah and Nasiatul Asyiyah.