Can a man of religion be a democrat at the same time?

A divisive way of thinking as in the Muslim-non Muslim or majority-minority dichotomy has reinvigorated the political stage lately. Political analyst J. Soedjati Djiwandono reflects on this issue.

JAKARTA (JP): Deputy chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Dr. Alwi Shihab stated last weekend that a possible coalition between PKB, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) would not necessarily mean the new president would be Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of PDI Perjuangan, in the event of her party winning the largest number of votes.

He said there was an ongoing debate within his party (or within his party's principal supporter, the Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama) regarding the acceptability of a woman president. It was a statement almost certainly emanating from an Islamic point of view. In addition, he said that they ought to agree on a president acceptable to the majority of the people.

I cannot possibly argue on theological grounds, let alone on Islamic theology, either for or against the contention. However, I cannot but take note that given the real possibility that the present trend continues and PDI Perjuangan wins a majority of the vote, I would bet that the majority of its electorate are Muslims. These people have voted for the party, knowing full well that its leader is a woman, who will then have a good chance of being elected president. They would, in effect, accept a woman president.

So what did the gentleman mean by his remark that the candidate should be acceptable to a majority of the people? To be sure, one can still argue what kind of majority: a simple or absolute majority? But he did not elaborate on this point. Or did he mean that a new majority is to be determined on that particular issue, and if so, in what way? It would not seem unthinkable to do so within PKB itself, if that should be considered necessary prior to its decision on a coalition with PDI Perjuangan.

Indeed, as many Muslims would certainly argue, in voting for PDI Perjuangan, its Muslim voters, consciously or otherwise, have ignored an Islamic tenet. It is comforting to learn, however, that the issue is at least still an area of debate within the party or NU. That is a process of democracy and a good sign of the democratic spirit.

To my understanding, Dr. Alwi Shihab himself did not express his own personal view on the issue. He merely pointed out a reality within his party. Yet, I must admit I was a little uneasy to hear the remark from a Muslim scholar. Although I do not know him personally, I listened to some of his lectures on TV during the fasting month last year and I highly respect him as a learned scholar. He is an intelligent, sensible and honest man with moral courage to say what he believes to be good and right, whether or not these views are popular among his co-religionists.

It is indeed good and proper for a politician to listen to the wishes of the people, at least the majority of the people.

In my view, however, that is not enough. I would expect more from politicians and scholars alike, especially those of his caliber. They should play an active part in the process of political education for the public, especially in a country like ours, which is still an infant, as it were, in understanding and practicing modern democracy.

Is it, I wonder, really contradictory for one to be a good Muslim, a Christian, or whatever religion one may profess, and a democrat at the same time? That seems to be an essential question for Indonesians, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, yet to be solved once and for all in Indonesia.

If we Indonesians are really determined to continue to live as one nation, we must do away with the habit of thinking in terms of the majority-minority equation, particularly the Muslim-non- Muslim dichotomy with all its implications.

We all must respect what is accepted as good and sacred in one another's religion. But in the context of living as a nation, we ought to be commonly bound by what are increasingly accepted internationally as universal values epitomized in democratic ideals which demand equality and justice for all, and respect for human dignity and human rights. It is on the basis of these ideals that we strive for the common good, for the general welfare.

We all have suffered enough from religious tensions, prejudice and misunderstandings for over half a century. In fact, to my mind, we have been regressing in this respect. National unity is something we must continue to work for. Unity in diversity is not something to be taken for granted. Its maintenance would be determined by the maintenance of justice. Who would be interested in national unity, if within that unity one should suffer from injustices, not only for racial, ethnic, or cultural reasons, but also because of religious backgrounds?

I often wish that we had taken a long time ago the Indian- Pakistani model, dividing ourselves peacefully into two separate sovereign states, one secular, the other Islamic, but without its perennial territorial disputes. That is a terrible dream. But the alternative has been no better.

Let me note, finally, that Pakistan, an Islamic republic, has had a woman prime minister. So has Bangladesh, another Islamic state. Turkey, while a secular state is a country with a large majority of Muslims. It also has had a woman prime minister. Do we Indonesians, with the largest Muslim majority in the world, want to continue to lag behind?