United Development Party (PPP) chief Suryadharma Ali said his party welcomes members of groups perceived by the public to be radicals and fanatics to join his party.
Suryadharma identified the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Institute (LDII) and the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school, widely seen as part of the underground movement and hotbeds of terrorist recruitment, as potential allies.
“It is best that we welcome them and open discussion on Islamic teachings instead of seeing them as enemies,” Suryadharma said on Saturday.
Suryadharma believes that communication is the remedy for radicalism.(dic)
Published in The Jakarta Post on 3 February 2013