The Complex Politics of Indonesia

Henry Srebrnik, [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian

Last year, with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370, the world’s spotlight was focused on Malaysia.

Now, the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 halfway through a two-hour flight between Surabaya, Indonesia and the island state of Singapore, has drawn our attention to the neighbouring southeast Asian country of Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, with some 13,000 islands stretching over thousands of kilometres.

It ranks as the fourth-largest country in the world in population, as well as the biggest economy in southeast Asia.

Around 88 per cent of Indonesia’s 250 million people are Muslim, making it the world’s biggest Islamic nation. Seven per cent of the population is Christian, 1.7 per cent Hindu, and less than one per cent Buddhist.

But Indonesia is not a state ruled by Islamic law. Most Indonesians are moderate Muslims, and approve of a secular and pluralist society. The political parties that support a moderate and tolerant Islamic democracy and society remain popular.

The April 9, 2014 legislative election saw the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) come first with 19.8 per cent, followed by Golkar, the ruling party from 1973 to 1999, at 14.6 per cent.

Five Islamic parties won a combined count of 31.9 per cent of the vote. The National Awakening Party (PKB) was the best performer among the Islamic parties, with nine per cent, up from 4.9 per cent in 2009. The National Mandate Party (PAN) scored 7.5 per cent, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) gained 6.79 per cent, the United Development Party (PPP) received 6.7 per cent, and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) 1.46 per cent.  

But the PKB is allied with the country’s biggest Muslim organization, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), and has pledged to keep religion out of policy-making.

“What’s important is that our behavior is Islamic and by that I mean upholding justice, rule of law, defending ordinary citizens' rights, welfare, health, stability -- all that is in line with Islam,” said Said Aqil Siradj, the head of NU. “We don't need an Islamic country or Islamic parties to do that.”

As well, in the July 9 presidential election, Joko Widodo defeated retired Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, who was backed by the Islamic parties. Widodo, who obtained 53.1 per cent of the vote, was nominated by the PDI-P.

That party’s ideology is based on the official Indonesian national philosophy, Pancasila, whose principles are belief in one supreme God; humanitarianism; nationalism expressed in the unity of Indonesia; consultative democracy; and social justice.

The Chinese population of the country consists of some 2.8 million people who self-identify as ethnic Chinese; some estimates place it as much higher. Though small in numbers, the Chinese control much of the country’s privately owned commerce and wealth, especially in the capital, Jakarta, and hence are often the subjects of populist envy.

As well, they are not Muslim, and so are sometimes the targets of extremists.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a 48-year-old Chinese Protestant whose grandfather was a tin miner from Guangzhou, China, has become the Governor of Jakarta. On Nov. 14, he was confirmed by Jakarta City Council and was inaugurated by President Widodo, his predecessor as head of the city of 10 million people, four days later.

This did not go unchallenged. A rally organized by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), founded by Muhammad Rizieq Syihab, warned against the appointment, because, the group said, it is forbidden to have “an infidel as the head of Jakarta.”

FPI’s members have conducted yearly raids during the month of Ramadan, attacking nightclubs, bars and other venues, which they say are not in line with Islam.

The FPI is one of a number of radical organizations that wish to implement sharia law, are anti-western, and often use violence. The Islamic Congregation (Jema’ah Islamiyah), founded by Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, in particular, has been responsible for some of the most vicious attacks in recent years.

The most notorious were the 2002 bombings which killed over 200 people on the island of Bali, home to most of Indonesia’s Hindus.

But while the virulent brand of Islamist activism epitomized by the ideology and agenda of such groups is a feature of the social-political terrain in Indonesia, they form a small fraction of the wider Muslim community.