Hamzah Haz, the leader of the Islamist PPP and former vice president said that Indonesia is still in need of Islamic based parties because the majority of Indonesians are Muslims.

All our laws have a universal spirit. Every government policy [should be] infused with the spirit of Islam. (Semua undang-undang kita bersifat universal. Setiap kebijakan pemerintah yang dituangkan dalam perundang-undangan berjiwa Islam.)

To that end, he said that the Islamic faith (aqidah) has to be kept to in the building of the country.

Because of that Islamic parties are needed and we struggle to defend the soul of Islam (Karena itulah diperlukan partai Islam dan kita berjuang untuk menjaga ruh Islam.)

He noted that in the 1955 election Muslims who voted for Islamic parties accounted for 48% but since the time of the New Order until the present those who chose Islamic parties declined to 20%.

… we are faced with people who don’t like the label of Islamic, don’t want Islam as the foundation for a political party but we [the PPP] still stand up for Islam as the basis of political parties. (….itulah yang terjadi sekarang ini yang kita hadapi seseorang tidak suka memakai lebel Islam sebagai azas partai, namun kita tetap berpendirian bahwa Islam sebagai azas partai.)

He said that the morality of the nation, in Islamic terms, was declining and that the prevalence of corruption, drug use, pornography, gambling, and even terrorism, was proof of this. Islam was the solution he said, it had to become the driving force in the activities of the country.

In good or bad the fate of the nation depends on the Muslim community. If Muslims are good then so is the nation, if they are bad so is the nation because the majority of people are Muslims. (Baik buruk bangsa Indonesia tergantung umat Islam. Kalau umat Islam baik maka baiklah bangsa Indonesia, tetapi kalau umat Islam jelek maka jeleklah bangsa Indonesia karena penduduk Indonesia paling besar memeluk agama Islam, bahkan umat Islam terbesar di dunia adalah di indonesia.)

On the question of involvement in the PPP of Muslim clerics he said

If we leave behind the clerics the PPP will be deflated because the clerics have to be placed in the highest position within the PPP. (Kalau meninggalkan ulama maka PPP akan bocor dan kempes, oleh karena itu para ulama harus ditempatkan pada posisi yang paling tinggi di dalam membesarkan PPP.)

On women he said that there were more women voters than men so women had to be put in senior positions within the party and its branches.

The party faced great challenges, Haz said. From the national parliament to provincial parliaments to local government party cadres had to make their point of view be heard, and had to take a critical attitude in order to struggle for the interests of the people.

Stirring stuff.