Avoid intervention in religion: ICRP

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP) issued a "moral political contract" on Wednesday, urging presidential candidates, if elected, not to intervene in religious affairs and not to discriminate against any particular religion.

"We will soon send the contract to the presidential candidates," ICRP president Djohan Effendi said after opening a two-day workshop titled "Building a new moral political contract". It follows similar talks in Jakarta; Medan, North Sumatra; Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara; Manado, North Sulawesi, and Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

Speakers included sociologist Francisia Seda. The talks are being held by ICRP and the Society for Interreligious Dialog (Madia) with the Partnership for Governance in Indonesia.

Djohan, a noted scholar on Islam, also said the new president should not endorse the bill on religious harmony as it was viewed as state intervention in religious affairs.

Building a new moral political contract is the most urgent activity aimed at democratization, a media release from the workshop said, "which can serve as a foundation on which to build our destroyed political civilization".

The contract would not only involve the presidential candidates but also religious leaders and their communities, which would need the "civil courage" to enforce the contract aimed at appreciating the plurality of faiths and religions in the country. This could "serve as a foundation for the creation of good, responsible governance," the release said.

The "moral political contract", among other things, obliges the new president to "settle past human rights violations" in accordance with the law and revoke all discriminatory policies regarding religion. It should, instead, recognize all religions and faiths, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs should focus on policies protecting all groups.

The new president must also guarantee civil rights, the contract says.