Akbar dismisses 'syariah' chances

Akbar dismisses 'syariah' chances

JAKARTA (JP): Demands by some Muslim political parties to
incorporate syariah, or Islamic law, into the 1945 Constitution
will unlikely win enough support in the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR), House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Wednesday.

Akbar was quoted by Antara as assuring delegates from the
North Sulawesi legislative council that the motion to make it
mandatory to apply the syariah for Indonesia's Muslim majority
would be defeated at the MPR annual session in November.

The delegation had earlier said that if the motion was carried
out, the predominantly Christian North Sulawesi would immediately
walk out of the republic.

As the MPR prepares to introduce the third set of amendments
to the 1945 Constitution at its November session, several Muslim
parties have renewed their campaign to get what is popularly
known as the "the seven words of the Jakarta Charter" reinstated
into the country's basic law.

The seven words "obliging its followers to apply the Islamic
laws" were present in the original draft of the 1945
Constitution, but were later dropped by the country's founding
fathers after strong objections from non-Muslims.

Akbar, whose nationalist Golkar party has the second largest
block vote in the MPR, said the state ideology Pancasila
guaranteed citizens freedom to practice their faith.

"Therefore, the state has no right to interfere in such
personal matters," he said, adding that as far as Golkar was
concerned the matter had been settled.

The nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) which has the largest faction in the MPR, had also
openly opposed the re-inclusion of the Jakarta Charter.

Both the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the two
largest Muslim social organizations, have spoken against the
plan, saying that it would only sow the seeds of religious
disharmony.

Leading the campaign to revive the Jakarta Charter is the
Muslim United Development Party (PPP), the third largest faction
in the MPR, working in a coalition with a number of smaller
Islamic political parties.

PPP chairman Hamzah Haz, who is also the vice president, told
a gathering with party officials in Jombang, East Java, on
Saturday that the inclusion of the Jakarta Charter would not turn
Indonesia into an Islamic state or threaten other religions.

The Crescent and Star Party (PBB) said on Tuesday that it was
fighting for the Jakarta Charter in order to give "more space" to
Muslims.

"We don't want to change the 1945 Constitution. We just want
to assert that Muslims deserve more space because we are the
majority," M.S Ka'ban, who heads the PBB faction in the House,
told reporters.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, a key NU figure, meanwhile
warned that reviving the seven words in the Jakarta Charter would
only segregate society into Muslims and non-Muslims, which was a
sure recipe for disaster, Suara Pembaruan reported on Wednesday.

"It means one class will be above the other. The country will
be ruined," Abdurrahman said during a ceremony to mark the 49th
anniversary of the NU Youth Association in Jakarta on Tuesday.
(07)