Presidential elections: a competition in piety

Our Dutch newspaper, De Volkskrant, offers today information by Michel Maas about the presidential elections in Indonesia  under the title:Een wedstrijd in vroomheid om de stem van moslims.. Both Prabowo and Jokowi have shown outward concern for Islamic values. Already during 15 years Prabowo Subianto has tried to become president. In 2004 he found no party willing to support him, in 2009 he became running mate for Megawati and lost with bitter, low numbers. In 2014 he was stronger and got 46,85%. Not yet enough. Now his presentation in Senayan was like a Salafi religious meeting. Habib Rizieq the self-appointed Imam Besar and now in self-chosen exile in Mecca (because the police wants to arrest him in a case of sexual exposures) was in the stadium with giant photographs, banners of FPI and the (officially banned) Hizbut Tahrir. Alumni 212 support him: this refers to 2 December 2016, the great demonstration against the Protestant Governor of Jakarta, Ahok, who due to these protests had to enter jail for two years. Former President General Yudhoyono complained about this radical Islamic show and Prabowo had to seek also a Catholic priest and a Papua leader in his largest show before the elections.

Jokowi (above on the right) was in 2014 seen as the liberal, secular, but he reintroduced the effective execution of death penalty, did nothing to prevent the religious agitation against the Protestant Ahok and in order to show more Islamic personality even took Ma'ruf Amin as his vice-president. This NU leader had issued a fatwa against Ahok, claiming that a non-Muslim cannot/should not rule over Muslims. In his fatwa he called it forbidden or haram that Muslims should vote for a non-Muslim candidate. Besides support from Muslim circles, Jokowi also sought support from generals who were strong in the Suharto period. Wiranto, suspected of supporting the unrest in Timor and Ambon after the fall of Suharto, is an important member of the Jokowi government. Michel Maas mentions the Golput movement: voting without choosing between the two candidates, alias blanco, as a third possibility. It will only weaken Jokowi.

Muhammadiyah leader Amien Rais has already threatened that he will start a protest group if Prabowo is not chosen, 'because the majority of the population wants him and votes for him.' This is in contrast to 1998, when Amien Rais was himself a candidate for presidency and opposed Prabowo. Well, it is all politics, already in so many cases mixed up with religious sentiments. Perhaps we should ask or even pray the divinity to lessen his or her influence?