National Awakening Party

National Awakening Party, moderate Islamic political party in Indonesia.

The PKB was formed in 1998 by Abdurrahman Wahid—a Muslim cleric and head of the Council of Scholars (Nahdlatul-ʿUlama), the country’s largest Muslim organization— and his supporters. Its opposition to an Islamic government, however, led more conservative members to leave and establish other parties. In 1999 the PKB leader Wahid became Indonesia’s first democratically elected president in more than 40 years; however, he was ousted from office in 2001. The PKB supports religious tolerance, democracy, and a secular government.