Islam’s Defining Role in Indonesia’s Presidential Race

TODAY

30 April 2018

Even though Indonesia’s presidential election is still a year away, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is poised to seek re-election for a second five-year term.

In fact, he has already secured endorsement from several political parties, most importantly from his own Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) and the Golkar Party, which together control 36 per cent of seats of the House of Representatives (DPR).

However, what is going to make the 2019 presidential election different from previous ones is that all potential candidates have to show they possess strong Islamic credentials if they hope to go far.

Given the strong pressure from conservative Islamic groups to elect someone with strong Islamic affiliation as the next Indonesian president, President Jokowi is likely to bolster his own Islamic credentials to win over the support of prospective voters with pious background.

… Dr Alexander R Arifianto is a Research Fellow with the Indonesia Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

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