The Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has claimed that it has regained the public's trust and is confident it would score big in the legislative election, which is set to take place on April 9.
Speaking at a party rally on Sunday at the Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, PKS chairman Anis Matta said the party had “fully recovered” from the impact of the beef graft case and was hoping to finish in the top three in the upcoming election.
“In the past year, a drama had significantly shaken our party. But today, PKS is ready to become the brain, the heart and the backbone of Indonesia,” said Anis to more than 100,000 party supporters.
The PKS had spent years building an image as a “clean and caring” party.
However, it has been struggling to recover its popularity ever since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed last year the involvement of its former chairman, Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, in a beef-import graft case.
In December, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Luthfi, the first acting leader of a political party to be arrested by the KPK, to 16 years in prison for graft and money laundering.
In his speech, however, Anis avoided the word "corruption" and used "drama" to refer to Lutfi’s graft case.
He also said the party was expecting to score an election victory in Jakarta. “Let us start our nationwide victory from Jakarta,” he said.
Source/Fuenet: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/03/16/pks-upbeat-ahead-election....
