SINGAPORE, OPINION ASIA — The current spotlight is on the search for a future coalition in Indonesia, but attention should also be given to the fact that the polls have led to a historical change of guard among the ranks of Islamist parties. This change concerns not only the Unity Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), but also the Crescent Star Party (PBB), which failed to reach the electoral threshold of 2.5 percent and is thus not permitted to run under the same name in the next elections.

PPP was the only de facto Islamist party during the New Order years — de facto because, in 1984, the government required all political parties to adopt the state doctrine Pancasila as party ideology. In the first two post-New Order elections in 1999 and 2004, PPP still obtained the most votes of all Islamist parties. In 1999, PPP gained 10.7 percent of the votes. In 2004, its share dropped to 8.1 percent.

PKS attained 1.2 percent of the votes in 1999. In 2004, it made a big leap forward with a 7.2 percent share. In this year's polls, PKS for the first time outperformed PPP. Current vote counts establish PKS' result at 8.3 percent and PPP's at 5.4 percent. This means that, aside from the Democratic Party, PKS was the only party improving on its 2004 election result.