Jakarta, <strong><em>NU Online</em></strong><br /> General chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU), said it was doubtful that the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) fatwa forbidding Muslims to abstain in general elections would help Islam-based parties win more votes in upcoming polls.<br /> <br /> "I think, there is no connection between the MUI fatwa and the ability of Islam-based parties to gain more votes in the general elections," Muzadi told reporters here Thursday (19/2).<><br /> <br /> He said people were inclined to look at realities rather than formalities, and parties considered for being able to bring welfare would easily win the most votes regardless of their founding principles.<br /> <br /> About predictions that Islam-based parties would see a decline in their vote-getting power in the 2009 general election, Hasyim said that could well happen.<br /> <br /> The reason, he said, was that Islam-based parties had so far not shown that they were very different from the so-called "secular" parties.<br /> <br /> Islam-based parties had failed to prove that because they adhered to Islamic principles they were politically better than other parties. What they had done in reality so far was adhering to Islam only as a formality but failing to project Islam as a blessing for the people.<br /> <br /> Hasyim was of view the behavior of Islam-based parties was not different from those of the secular ones. Instead, he added, the Islam-based parties were adept at "using Islamic arguments in justifying themselves when their conduct deviates from what they preach."<br /> <br /> "In this respect, the secular parties are preferable because, if they misbehave, at least they do not violate anything religious they had propagated," Hasyim said. (rif)

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