As pollsters predict a grim outlook for Islamic parties in the 2014 legislative election, some parties are making an effort to appeal to fringe Muslim groups in the country.



The United Development Party (PPP) recently decided to nominate Munarman, controversial spokesman of the vigilante Islam Defenders Front (FPI), as one of its legislative candidates.



In February, PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali, who is also the religious affairs minister, went so far as to announce that his party was open to members of the Islamic Dakwah Indonesia Institution (LDII) and the Al-Zaytun boarding school, two institutions that are seen by many as radical.



The party’s goal was to translate Islamic principles into an Islamic constitution, PPP secretary-general M. Romahurmuziy said.



“Therefore, for instance, we do not accept non-Muslim legislative candidates,”...