Religious Politics Blamed for Electoral Defeat of Jakarta's Christian Governor
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the embattled Christian governor of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, has conceded defeat in a reelection bid after voters opted for his rival, Anies Baswedan. The electoral result brings to an end a campaign marked by sectarian and ethnic tensions.
Despite being the largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia is known to be an open society. But its vaunted religious tolerance was challenged when Purnama, better known as Ahok, was accused of making remarks against the Muslim faith and was consequently charged with blasphemy.
Ahok, who is of Chinese descent, denied the accusation. But the charge was played up by Salafists, ultra-conservative Muslims influenced by a puritanical brand of Islam, who organized huge protest rallies against the capital's first Christian governor. Jakarta Post described the campaign as "the dirtiest, most polarizing and most divisive the nation has ever seen."
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Hardline Islamic cleric Habib Rizieq remarked that the election is not a battle between the two candidates.
"This is a battle between ... defenders of Islam and those who blaspheme against Islam," he said.
The Gerindra Party that Baswedan represented capitalized on this religious fervor.
"This is a rehearsal for [the 2019 presidential election] and it sends a very clear message that if you play the Islam card, it's going to help you," Tim Lindsey, an Indonesia analyst from University of Melbourne, said. "If groups like these can get hundreds of thousands on the streets, you are going to use that power."
Slamet Maarif, a spokesman for the Islamic Defenders Front, confirmed that they are working to prevent another Christian from leading Indonesia's Muslim majority capital.
"We will maintain the existing unity of Muslims. And we will prepare Muslim unity for 2019," he said.
Eva Kusuma Sundari, a senior official of Ahok's party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, thinks the development doesn't bode well for the country's cultural diversity and freedom.
"We have to figure out our own understanding of this political religion without giving up our constitutional and nationalistic approach," she said.
