"PKS must join with others because Indonesia is a big country. It is impossible for us to have no coalition. Although it has the boarding pass, PKS will remain in need of a coalition," Anis said on the sidelines of PKS campaign rallies in Lampung Province on Saturday.
He said that all political parties were aware of the need to join together, but this could only be decided after the results of the April 9 legislative elections have been announced.
"The legislative elections will decide the political map. PKS will talk about presidential candidates after the results of the legislative elections have been made clear," Anis Matta asserted.
He further stated that his party was open to join with any political party.
The PKS president also restated his goal to lead PKS to become one of the three largest political parties in this years elections.
Based on national surveys, PKS has returned to a position in which it could receive a large number of votes, and the past two months has seen an increase in its electability across the country.
"The result of our internal survey is also encouraging, so that we are convinced that we can achieve the big three target," he said.
In the meantime, a former PKS senior political figure stated that the partys presidential candidacy will be determined depending upon the partys vote totals in the legislative elections on April 9.
"It is the advisory board that will determine (the candidate) after the results of the elections are known," Hidayat Nur Wahid noted, during a lull in the campaign in Cilandak, South Jakarta, on Friday.
Right now, three figures are competing for the nomination, including party president Anis Matta, West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan and himself, he added.
He elaborated that if Ahmad Heryawan is able to receive significant votes in West Java, or if Anis Matta could garner a high number of votes nationally, then that will be one of the factors that will be used to determine their candidacies.
"That is what we call a public test phase. Besides that, we will also use survey results to determine the correct figure," he added.
He pointed out that PKS will only nominate a presidential candidate if the party is able to collect a minimum of 10 percent of the total votes in the legislative elections.
Based on the election law, only a party or a group of parties that receive 25 percent of the total votes in the elections, or secure a minimum of 20 percent of the parliamentary seats, is allowed to nominate its own presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Twelve national political parties will participate in legislative elections on April 9, while three local parties in Aceh will be on the ballots in the local electorate.
PKS, in the last general elections in 2009, finished fourth, collecting 7.86 percent of the votes following the Democrat Party, Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle.
(A014/INE/o001)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
