Indonesian Islam Comes in From the Cold
June 8, 1999 - 0:0
JAKARTA One sure winner in Indonesia's general election on Monday will be Islam, the religion of most of its people. After decades in the political wilderness under ousted president Suharto's strictly secular rule, Muslim leaders are likely to take key positions in a new government. National policy-making will probably adopt a more Islamic feel, but analysts expect this to happen gradually.
At present, matters of state and religion are kept strictly divided in the world's most populous Muslim nation. To some Muslims, a greater role in government would seem appropriate in a country where mosque attendance has steadily risen in the past decade. Women increasingly wear headscarves and the call to prayer resounds across the sprawling archipelago. "Governance will take on, at least superficially, a more Islamic slant.
But a considerable portion of the public prefer to keep the government and the mosque separate," said Adam Schwarz, a Southeast Asian specialist. As for radical Islam taking hold, analysts dismissed the idea. It would be opposed by the powerful military and find few adherents among Indonesia's generally laid-back people, they said. "The issue of fundamentalism is not a concern," says Gerry van Klinken, a lecturer in modern Asian politics at Griffith University in Australia. The risk for foreign investors is that populist policies that appeal to the poor might put the new government on a collision course with the International Monetary Fund. IMF-led funding has helped keep Indonesia's shattered economy afloat leading up to Monday's parliamentary election, the first truly democratic poll since 1955. However, there has been little criticism from pro-Islamic forces about Indonesia's orientation to open markets and recognition of the importance of foreign capital.
Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people are Muslim, but ironically the most popular party contesting the poll is the secular-nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party-struggle led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the late president Sukarno. Megawati is adored by the country's poor -- who are mainly Muslims -- and her party was expected to win the election but not an outright majority, leading to a possible coalition with leading Muslim figures such as Abdurrahman Wahid and AAien Rais. Since the downfall of Suharto last year, multiple views have emerged over what sort of political role Islam should play, reflecting the nature of a religion that has blended with various Indonesian cultural traditions and beliefs over the centuries.
A greater Islamic voice in governance would likely manifest itself through policies that assist the poor, seek greater distribution of wealth, impose tough punishment for high-level corruption and dismantle monopolies and oligopolies. One sign that people did not want politicized islam was the lack of anti-Christian rhetoric during the campaign, says Franz Magnis Suseno, a German-born professor of philosophy and Catholic priest who has lived in Indonesia since 1961. He said pro-Islamic parties on the campaign stump could have seized upon the violence earlier this year between Muslims and Christians in the eastern city of Ambon but did not.
Schwarz, author of "A Nation in Waiting", a book on modern Indonesia, said the key religious issue down the road was not a clash between faiths but a struggle within Islam itself. He said it was difficult to predict how this struggle would turn out, but the first round would likely be won by inclusivist parties and groups that strengthened Islam within the community but did not make government overtly Islamic. "The great battles to be fought are going to be within Islam. That is the battle that will determine Indonesia's political future, not the battles between religions," Schwarz said.
(Reuter)
At present, matters of state and religion are kept strictly divided in the world's most populous Muslim nation. To some Muslims, a greater role in government would seem appropriate in a country where mosque attendance has steadily risen in the past decade. Women increasingly wear headscarves and the call to prayer resounds across the sprawling archipelago. "Governance will take on, at least superficially, a more Islamic slant.
But a considerable portion of the public prefer to keep the government and the mosque separate," said Adam Schwarz, a Southeast Asian specialist. As for radical Islam taking hold, analysts dismissed the idea. It would be opposed by the powerful military and find few adherents among Indonesia's generally laid-back people, they said. "The issue of fundamentalism is not a concern," says Gerry van Klinken, a lecturer in modern Asian politics at Griffith University in Australia. The risk for foreign investors is that populist policies that appeal to the poor might put the new government on a collision course with the International Monetary Fund. IMF-led funding has helped keep Indonesia's shattered economy afloat leading up to Monday's parliamentary election, the first truly democratic poll since 1955. However, there has been little criticism from pro-Islamic forces about Indonesia's orientation to open markets and recognition of the importance of foreign capital.
Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people are Muslim, but ironically the most popular party contesting the poll is the secular-nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party-struggle led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the late president Sukarno. Megawati is adored by the country's poor -- who are mainly Muslims -- and her party was expected to win the election but not an outright majority, leading to a possible coalition with leading Muslim figures such as Abdurrahman Wahid and AAien Rais. Since the downfall of Suharto last year, multiple views have emerged over what sort of political role Islam should play, reflecting the nature of a religion that has blended with various Indonesian cultural traditions and beliefs over the centuries.
A greater Islamic voice in governance would likely manifest itself through policies that assist the poor, seek greater distribution of wealth, impose tough punishment for high-level corruption and dismantle monopolies and oligopolies. One sign that people did not want politicized islam was the lack of anti-Christian rhetoric during the campaign, says Franz Magnis Suseno, a German-born professor of philosophy and Catholic priest who has lived in Indonesia since 1961. He said pro-Islamic parties on the campaign stump could have seized upon the violence earlier this year between Muslims and Christians in the eastern city of Ambon but did not.
Schwarz, author of "A Nation in Waiting", a book on modern Indonesia, said the key religious issue down the road was not a clash between faiths but a struggle within Islam itself. He said it was difficult to predict how this struggle would turn out, but the first round would likely be won by inclusivist parties and groups that strengthened Islam within the community but did not make government overtly Islamic. "The great battles to be fought are going to be within Islam. That is the battle that will determine Indonesia's political future, not the battles between religions," Schwarz said.
(Reuter)