Partai Damai Sejahtera (Prosperous Peace Party)

Date established: 1 October 2001
Initiator: —
Figure founder: Denny Tewu
Azas: Pancasila
Symbol party: Images of the cross, a dove and the rice and cotton with a purple background circle.
General Chairman: Ruyandi Hutasoit
Secretary General: Denny Tewu
Address: Office DPP PDS, Jl Tirtayasa No. 20 Kebayoran Baru Jakarta Selatan 12410, Telephone: 021 - 7220725

HISTORY
Damai Sejahtera Party (PDS) was established by young people Christian. This is the main color is to encourage the spirit to maintain peace in the middle plurality and the nation’s problems.

PDS had been internal conflict, where there are 2 stronghold PDS leadership claimed that the citadel Ruyandi Hutasoit and Grace Manullang stronghold. But KPU decided only recognizes Ruyandi PDS stronghold.

Under Ruyandi Hutasoit, PDS is created as the party is open. Ruyandi promising 10% of the PDS later caleg cadres is a cross-religious. In Election 2009, some caleg PDS also mentioned that there is a religious nonkristiani.

VISION & MISSION
Vision
Establishment of a free public worship, harmonious, peaceful and prosperous, and have rights and duties without discrimination in the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution with the spirit Bhineka Tunggal Ika (different but still one)

Mission
1. Build civil society, an independent, intelligent, honest, and democratic integrated in nation and state (Civil Society).
2. Build mutual trust and cultural respect which is the capital base of development in all sectors (Culture of Trust & Law Enforcement).
3. Preparing for the Indonesian people that just, prosperous, peaceful and prosperous based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution in a frame with the spirit of NKRI Bhineka Tunggal Ika (welfare state).

Achievement PEMILU:
2004 = 2,424,319 votes or 2.14% (13 seats in the House of Representatives)

The Partai Damai Sejahtera, PDS, says that they do not want to be viewed as a religious party.

Denny Tewu, the secretary general of the PDS, the Prosperous Peace Party, says the party is based in Christian values but prefers to be viewed as a nationalist group.

We want to appear as a nationalist party that is based in religious values but is not a party of religion.
(Kami ingin tampil sebagai partai nasionalis berdasarkan nilai-nilai keagamaan, bukan partai agama.)

The conference, which is due to occur between 23 and 26 May, is to be held in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado and is to be opened, oddly enough, by the vice president, Jusuf Kalla, an Islamist from the Golkar party. Denny also said that the controversial law on houses of worship and the spate of forced church closings would be important items on the general meeting’s agenda.

The PDS gains most of its support in areas where there is a sharp division between Muslims and Christians, such as Ambon and central Sulawesi, and in these places it generally goes head to head with the radical Islamic party, PKS. It also has respectable support in Jakarta where it garnered 5% in the 2004 election. It draws votes mainly from Protestants and evangelicals whereas Catholics tend to plump for the PDI-P, of Megawati.

May 25th 2006. News from the Prosperous Peace Party’s conference in Jakarta.

The PDS, Partai Damai Sejahtera, is a Protestant party with 13 seats in the national parliament. Their annual conference was opened by vice president Jusuf Kalla who attempted to deal with some of the concerns of the PDS members over the perceived Islamicization of the country.

The chairman of the PDS, Ruyandi Hutasoit, voiced his concerns over restrictions on the building of churches, and on attacks on existing churches in areas such as Bekasi, near Jakarta, and on the drift in the country away from the founding principles of “Unity in Diversity”, Pancasila, and the 1945 constitution. He said that in 1945 all the leading Islamic groups had agreed not to insert the seven words which would have imposed sharia on Muslims. The fathers of the nation had therefore explicitly rejected sharia as the basis for the state and had allowed for the existence of differences in the country to be seen as a source of strength.

On matters of freedom of worship Ruyandi said:

Whatever laws exist make sure they don’t prevent us from practising our faith. We’ve seen that is harder to [get permission to] build a place of worship than it is to build a place of entertainment.
(Peraturan seperti apapun yang jelas jangan menghalangi kami beribadah. Kami selama ini melihat membangun tempat ibadah lebih sulit dibanding membangun tempat-tempat hiburan.)

Ruyandi went on:

We ask the government that the law on houses of worship not prevent a religious community from worshipping. In Cilegon for example it is impossible to build even one church. Even for celebrating Easter.
(Kami meminta kepada pemerintah tiga hal, agar aturan SKB Menteri Agama dan Menteri Dalam Negeri dalam bentuk apapun, jangan sampai menghalangi umat beribadah. Di Cilegon sebagai contoh, di sana tidak boleh ada satupun gereja berdiri. Bahkan untuk merayakan Paskah sekali pun.)

He said that if church building was not permitted then the government should allow Christians to make use of existing buildings. If this were not possible them the use of places of residence for worship activities should be permissible.

In the 2004 elections the PDS managed to win 2.13% of the vote. If they are to continue to have a presence in the national parliament after the 2009 elections they will need to garner at least 3.5%, this being the new threshold for parties to gain seats in parliament. Towards this end the PDS reaffirmed their earlier intention to position themselves more as a nationalist party, rather than simply a Christian one. They are unlikely to be successful in holding on to party status after 2009 and this will likely see the PDI-P of Megawati pick up much of their support.