• Home
  • About RSIS
    • Introduction
    • Building the Foundations
    • Welcome Message
    • Board of Governors
    • Staff Profiles
      • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
      • Dean’s Office
      • Management
      • Distinguished Fellows
      • Faculty and Research
      • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
      • Visiting Fellows
      • Adjunct Fellows
      • Administrative Staff
    • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
    • RSIS Endowment Fund
    • Endowed Professorships
    • Career Opportunities
    • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
    • Research Centres
      • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
      • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
      • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
      • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
      • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
    • Research Programmes
      • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
      • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
    • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
    • [email protected] Newsletter
    • Other Research
      • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
    • Graduate Programmes Office
    • Overview
    • MSc (Asian Studies)
    • MSc (International Political Economy)
    • MSc (International Relations)
    • MSc (Strategic Studies)
    • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
    • PhD Programme
    • Exchange Partners and Programmes
    • How to Apply
    • Financial Assistance
    • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
    • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
    • Alumni
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
    • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
    • SRP Executive Programme
    • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
    • RSIS Publications
      • Annual Reviews
      • Books
      • Bulletins and Newsletters
      • Commentaries
      • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
      • Commemorative / Event Reports
      • IDSS Paper
      • Interreligious Relations
      • Monographs
      • NTS Insight
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • RSIS Publications for the Year
    • Glossary of Abbreviations
    • External Publications
      • Authored Books
      • Journal Articles
      • Edited Books
      • Chapters in Edited Books
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • Op-Eds
      • External Publications for the Year
    • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
    • Great Powers
    • Sustainable Security
    • Other Resource Pages
    • Media Highlights
    • News Releases
    • Speeches
    • Vidcast Channel
    • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsis.sg
Linkedin
instagram instagram rsis.sg
RSS
  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
      • News Releases
      • Speeches
      • Vidcast Channel
      • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
  • instagram instagram rsis.sg
Connect

Getting to RSIS

Map

Address

Nanyang Technological University
Block S4, Level B3,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798

View location on Google maps Click here for directions to RSIS

Get in Touch

    Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
    RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
    instagram instagram rsis.sg
      RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    RSIS Intranet

    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
    Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University

    Skip to content

     
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • CO17071 | Who Wins Jakarta Election: Does it Matter?
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • Commentaries
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • IDSS Paper
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers
    • RSIS Publications for the Year

    CO17071 | Who Wins Jakarta Election: Does it Matter?
    Leonard C. Sebastian

    18 April 2017

    download pdf
    RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due credit to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected].

    Synopsis

    The Jakarta gubernatorial election tomorrow will be a test of pluralism and political Islam. It is also a litmus test of Indonesia’s moderate multiculturalism versus a hardline Islamism.

    Commentary

    THE SECOND round of the gubernatorial election this week on 19 April 2017 is slated to be a tight race between the incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok and former Education Minister Anies Baswedan. The latest polling by a research outfit indicated that Anies had a slight edge at 47.9 percent over Ahok at 46.9 percent with 5.2 percent of voters undecided.

    This election will be a litmus test of the strength of Indonesian pluralism. If Ahok prevails he will become the first elected Chinese Christian governor of Jakarta, demonstrating that the capital’s voters have chosen pluralism over racial and religious affiliation. In the first round contest among three pairs of candidates, Ahok had garnered some 43 percent of the vote despite an ongoing blasphemy case against him and huge protest rallies by hardline Islamists who attacked him on both racial and religious grounds. His rival, Anies Baswedan received 40% of the vote while the third candidate Agus Haryamurti Yudhoyono, secured only 17%.

    Choice between Pluralism and Political Islam

    This has been a polarising election, which was not just about choosing the Jakarta governor but had become a larger choice between pluralism and the possibility of hardline political Islam deepening its roots in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Both Ahok’s rivals, Anies and Agus, had wooed the support of hardline Islamist groups like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which were against non-Muslims holding high office in Indonesia.

    Some observers say whether pluralism or Islamic radicalism wins will be captured in the results of the Jakarta election. Whoever wins, the capitulation of the largest moderate Islamic organisations in Indonesia to the Islamist wave is a trend that worries those who advocate democratic pluralism.

    Should Ahok be returned as Jakarta governor it will bode well for President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) should he run for re-election in 2019 (possibly with Ahok as running mate). Should Anies win with the support of Muslim groups in Greater Jakarta, it will signify the entrenched position of Islamist groups with their hardline political Islam inclinations.

    Religion as Fundamental Issue

    The fundamental issue in the Jakarta election was religion. The emergence of hardline Islamic movements in recent years, whether through promulgation of shariah laws or realisation of more conservative attitudes constitutes a new phase of the relationship between state, democracy and Islam.

    Hardline political Islam has long had a following in Indonesia, bubbling beneath the surface. Followers of more radical groups such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Front Hisbullah Bulan Bintang have gradually grown in strength. But extremist Islam tends to rear its head sporadically with tragic results, and the occurrence of terror attacks and bombings increasing in recent years.

    In a way the seven-million strong protest against Ahok over end-2016 was a reminder of the sway that hardline Islam has over segments in Indonesia. The FPI leader Habib Rizieq Shihab’s prominent direction of the events in November and December was deemed a victory for the Islamists over the moderate leadership of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the two largest Islamic organisations in Indonesia.

    Carry Over To Presidential Elections 2019?

    The brief outrage over Ahok’s comments belies a deeper-seated influence political Islam has over Indonesian politics and its persistent pursuit or promotion of Sharia over the years. Such perspectives are gaining wider acceptance.

    If Ahok is found guilty of blasphemy the ruling has the potential of galvanising radical Islam and deal a setback for moderate Islam, which has traditionally characterised Islamic practice in Indonesia. NU and Muhammadiyah, with their long tradition of Islamic moderation and propagation of Islamic principles and values in line with lndonesian culture and local wisdom, would be cast as passive onlookers.

    Their public agenda of the compatibility of democratic values with Islamic doctrines will be further strained. Their role in promoting plural and moderate Islamic values in domestic and foreign policy will be conscribed. And this trend may be carried into the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.

    About the Author

    Associate Professor Leonard C Sebastian is Coordinator, Indonesia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales.

    Categories: Commentaries / Conflict and Stability / Country and Region Studies / Religion in Contemporary Society / South Asia

    Last updated on 18/04/2017

    RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due credit to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected].

    Synopsis

    The Jakarta gubernatorial election tomorrow will be a test of pluralism and political Islam. It is also a litmus test of Indonesia’s moderate multiculturalism versus a hardline Islamism.

    Commentary

    THE SECOND round of the gubernatorial election this week on 19 April 2017 is slated to be a tight race between the incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok and former Education Minister Anies Baswedan. The latest polling by a research outfit indicated that Anies had a slight edge at 47.9 percent over Ahok at 46.9 percent with 5.2 percent of voters undecided.

    This election will be a litmus test of the strength of Indonesian pluralism. If Ahok prevails he will become the first elected Chinese Christian governor of Jakarta, demonstrating that the capital’s voters have chosen pluralism over racial and religious affiliation. In the first round contest among three pairs of candidates, Ahok had garnered some 43 percent of the vote despite an ongoing blasphemy case against him and huge protest rallies by hardline Islamists who attacked him on both racial and religious grounds. His rival, Anies Baswedan received 40% of the vote while the third candidate Agus Haryamurti Yudhoyono, secured only 17%.

    Choice between Pluralism and Political Islam

    This has been a polarising election, which was not just about choosing the Jakarta governor but had become a larger choice between pluralism and the possibility of hardline political Islam deepening its roots in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Both Ahok’s rivals, Anies and Agus, had wooed the support of hardline Islamist groups like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which were against non-Muslims holding high office in Indonesia.

    Some observers say whether pluralism or Islamic radicalism wins will be captured in the results of the Jakarta election. Whoever wins, the capitulation of the largest moderate Islamic organisations in Indonesia to the Islamist wave is a trend that worries those who advocate democratic pluralism.

    Should Ahok be returned as Jakarta governor it will bode well for President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) should he run for re-election in 2019 (possibly with Ahok as running mate). Should Anies win with the support of Muslim groups in Greater Jakarta, it will signify the entrenched position of Islamist groups with their hardline political Islam inclinations.

    Religion as Fundamental Issue

    The fundamental issue in the Jakarta election was religion. The emergence of hardline Islamic movements in recent years, whether through promulgation of shariah laws or realisation of more conservative attitudes constitutes a new phase of the relationship between state, democracy and Islam.

    Hardline political Islam has long had a following in Indonesia, bubbling beneath the surface. Followers of more radical groups such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Front Hisbullah Bulan Bintang have gradually grown in strength. But extremist Islam tends to rear its head sporadically with tragic results, and the occurrence of terror attacks and bombings increasing in recent years.

    In a way the seven-million strong protest against Ahok over end-2016 was a reminder of the sway that hardline Islam has over segments in Indonesia. The FPI leader Habib Rizieq Shihab’s prominent direction of the events in November and December was deemed a victory for the Islamists over the moderate leadership of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the two largest Islamic organisations in Indonesia.

    Carry Over To Presidential Elections 2019?

    The brief outrage over Ahok’s comments belies a deeper-seated influence political Islam has over Indonesian politics and its persistent pursuit or promotion of Sharia over the years. Such perspectives are gaining wider acceptance.

    If Ahok is found guilty of blasphemy the ruling has the potential of galvanising radical Islam and deal a setback for moderate Islam, which has traditionally characterised Islamic practice in Indonesia. NU and Muhammadiyah, with their long tradition of Islamic moderation and propagation of Islamic principles and values in line with lndonesian culture and local wisdom, would be cast as passive onlookers.

    Their public agenda of the compatibility of democratic values with Islamic doctrines will be further strained. Their role in promoting plural and moderate Islamic values in domestic and foreign policy will be conscribed. And this trend may be carried into the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.

    About the Author

    Associate Professor Leonard C Sebastian is Coordinator, Indonesia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales.

    Categories: Commentaries / Conflict and Stability / Country and Region Studies / Religion in Contemporary Society

    Last updated on 18/04/2017

    Back to top

    Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
    Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
    This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
    OK
    Latest Book
    CO17071 | Who Wins Jakarta Election: Does it Matter?

    Synopsis

    The Jakarta gubernatorial election tomorrow will be a test of pluralism and political Islam. It is also a litmus test of Indonesia's moderate multicult ...
    more info