Election results brings worrying message in Ambon

M. Aziz Tunny and Achmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Ambon/Jakarta

For the last couple of years residents in Maluku have enjoyed a fairly normal life -- but the results of the legislative election brings a worrying message about the religious divide that stoked the flames of a civil war only a few years ago.

By Sunday evening, of the mere 5,000 votes which had been counted in the province, the established Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar were in first and second place with almost 24 percent and over 15 percent respectively.

But even before the General Elections Commission (KPU) released the results of its electronic tallying, it was clear that in Ambon, the province capital, the Muslim-oriented Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) won in Muslim-dominated areas while the Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) won most votes in Christian areas.

Ethnic and religious conflict plagued Ambon from January 1999 to 2002 and ended following arduous efforts for peace. A trivial dispute between a driver and a passenger of different religions spread into an orgy of killings and destruction in which thousands died on both sides.

Peace pacts have been followed by attempts at addressing basic needs such as housing for some 200,000 homeless refugees. But the difficulty in achieving a more solid peace among Christians and Muslims has been blamed in part on the government's reluctance to bring the masterminds of the violence to justice.

An unsettled problem has been the practice of people of one religion occupying an empty home or land belonging to someone of another religion, who still fear coming home despite officials' assurances of safety.

Golkar legislative candidate Hamzah Sangaji earlier warned of the "dangerous" potential of a leaning toward the PKS and the PDS based on religion.

Though PDI-P and Golkar are winning, executives of the Maluku chapter of PKS said the relative success of the PKS and the PDS reflected people's feelings that these parties "struggled for their aspirations" and that the parties could improve local and national conditions.

A voter for PDS, Helen Pesulima, said she voted for the party because she hoped it could help "change the decadent morals of this nation."

"This nation is in a multidimensional crisis including its leadership. I'm sure that representatives from a religious background can change this ailing country."

The election showed PKS leading in several areas which are known as Muslim subdistricts, such as Waihaong, Kebun Cengkih and Batumerah. People evidently preferred the PKS to other Muslim- based parties contesting for votes in Maluku.

The PDS won in the Christian-populated subdistricts such as Kudamati, Karangpanjang, Batumeja and Passo, and defeated secular parties, including the PDI-P and Golkar.

Although the government revoked the civil emergency status in September last year, the community remains largely segregated.

Sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola, however, said that although the temporary success of the PKS and the PDS may be worrying, it would not trigger new conflicts.

"I know that people are not easily provoked and involved in new conflicts nowadays" he said. Many people are seeking an alternative to the "old parties" which have failed to solve their real problems, especially regarding property ownership, he added.

Meanwhile, M. Junus, the leader of the Maluku chapter of a research body affiliated to Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization, said that regardless of the final election results, "PDS and PKS must cooperate to check overt fanaticism."