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78Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesiapower through a party. As he often said, a party was a meansand not an end. If it were demanded and this means could beeffective, a party should be established. If not, it is better to findalternatives. According to Natsir, the most demanding effort inthe New Order political format was to improve the dakwah(Islamic Call) to develop the potential of Muslims in the future.For him, dakwah was a process of conscientization, which ledto the broader aspects of social life, including politics. Whilejoking, he said that, after the banning of Masyumi, %u201cwe are nolonger conducting dakwah by means of politics, but engagingin political activities by means of dakwah. The result will be thesame%u201d.In order to engage in politics by dakwah, Natsir sponsoredthe establishment of Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDII- The Council of Indonesian Islamic Dakwah) in 1968. Thiscouncil was not a corporate body of mass-based socio-religiousinstitutions, but a foundation that was only legalized by anotarial document. The council had representative bodies inIndonesian provincial cities and even at district levels. Theleadership of this organization, whether at the central or branchlevels, was mostly dominated by ex-Natsirist Masyumi activists,such as Rusyad Nurdin in West Java, Kiai Misbach in East Javaand Ki Abdul Rasyid Siddiq in South Sumatra. The move of itsheadquarters to Jalan Kramat Raya 45, Jakarta, which was theheadquarters of Masyumi, affirmed the impression that DDIIwas another form of Masyumi. This impression was not explicitlydemonstrated by its activists.Natsir headed this organization from its beginning untilhis death. The council implemented the mission, which heinsisted upon, of engaging in politics in dakwah. It actively