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Indonesia hard-line Muslims to face nationalist political parties

Next target for pro-Islamic pressure groups is regional elections held in June
Indonesia hard-line Muslims to face nationalist political parties

Around 700,000 Muslims joined a rally on Dec. 2, 2016 to demand that then Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian, be sent to jail for blasphemy after commenting on a verse in the Quran. (Photo by Ryan Dagur/ucanews.com)

Published: February 05, 2018 09:14 AM GMT
Updated: February 05, 2018 09:19 AM GMT

Indonesian Muslim hardliners have pledged to campaign against nationalist political parties in the lead-up to this year's regional elections and a 2019 vote for the presidency.

One of their main targets is President Joko Widodo and his ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"For us, the party is the culprit for this nation's problems," said Slamet Maarif, a spokesman for an alliance of hard-line Muslim groups.

He told ucanews.com that they will mobilize to defeat candidates backed by PDI-P and other nationalist political parties.

This constitutes a change from just concentrating on directly supporting Islamic-agenda candidates.

Hard-line Muslim groups have played increasingly significant political roles since they last year helped to secure the electoral defeat of the then governor of Jakarta, ethnic Chinese Christian Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known as Ahok.

Ahok was supported by PDI-P and other nationalist parties.

The next target for pro-Islamic pressure groups is regional elections in 171 provinces and districts scheduled for June.

Ansufri Idrus Sambo, a hard-line Muslim leader, said the tactic used against Ahok of conducting mass rallies would be repeated.

"We will monitor every region to ensure that Muslims choose candidates who are in line with our mission," he said.

In January, hard-line Muslim pressure groups acknowledged that they had put forward the names of potential candidates to mainstream Islamic-political parties.

And that included lobbying the Great Indonesia Movement Party, which is led by Prabowo Subianto, a rival of Widodo.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a PDI-P official, denied an accusation that her party's candidates don't follow the tenets of Islam.

She said hardliners were using religion in an attempt to legitimize their political ambitions.

"The majority in PDI-P are Muslims, including myself," she said.

"We believe that what we stand for is in accordance with the teachings of Islam."

Political analyst Boni Hargens said Islamic hardliners branded others as 'kafir' infidels, anti-Islamic or communist.

He added that moderates would strongly resist their attempts to turn Indonesia into a religious state.

However, Hargens said a stronger stance was needed by the government against the use of divisive sectarian campaign strategies.

"Otherwise, the upcoming elections, especially in Muslim majority areas, will potentially be like the Jakarta governor election," he said.

Ahok was imprisoned on a blasphemy charge after publicly disputing claims that Islamic scripture required Muslims to only vote for other Muslims.

Ahmad Basari, a 25-years-old Muslim from Bogor, West Java, says he joined anti-Ahok protests last year because he was disappointed with the non-Islamic parties.

"During our struggle to send Ahok to jail, they did nothing," he said.

"Instead, they supported him."

Basari added that if Indonesia continued to be led by Widodo and his PDI-P, Muslims would suffer.

However, such a religiously based approach does not hold appeal for Abdullah Boe, a Muslim in majority-Christian East Nusa Tenggara province. 

"During elections we do not choose religious leaders, but public leaders," he explained.

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