Eurasia Review
01 June 2017
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Religion And Politics: Reflections From Jakarta – Analysis
Religion And Politics: Reflections From Jakarta – Analysis
When President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called for religion and politics to be separated ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial run-off election in April, he was met with scepticism from conservative Muslim voices. They took the statement to mean that the president was advocating the liberal and Western values of secularism.
Amid the resurgence of religion, specifically the rise of increasingly vocal voices of the religious-right as Indonesia struggles to fight the tide of conservatism, a reassessment of religion’s role in the public space is necessary. As a key theme which underpinned the election it is imperative to clarify the relationship between religion and state.
… Nursheila Muez is a Research Analyst with the Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies Programme (SRP), at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
SRP / Online
Last updated on 13/06/2017
