Faith vs democracy?

Can or cannot a woman become the president of Indonesia? To most people this question is ludicrous in its absurdity. Indonesia is a democratic republic and equality before law, without regard of race, creed or gender, is one of the main pillars of democracy. Indonesia's Constitution guarantees that, "without any exception, all citizens shall have equal positions in law and government and shall be obliged to uphold the law and government". Furthermore, Indonesia ratified the 1953 United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of Women and the 1979 Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Yet, this is precisely the question that is keeping millions of Indonesians occupied at the moment. The logical question is; Why? The answer is that the secular-nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), whose leader and presidential candidate, Megawati Soekarnoputri, is a woman.

Many Muslim ulemas and politicians of rival political parties have insisted that Islam does not allow a woman to be in a position of leadership in society. It must be stressed, though, that this is by no means the stance Muslims in Indonesia are taking. Muslim ulemas coming from Java, Sumatra, Bali and the eastern Indonesian islands during the past weekend, for example, said they would support whoever was democratically elected to become the nation's president. This is not to mention the vast majority of nominal Muslims -- the abangan -- who don't care whether the country is led by a man or a woman, as long as their welfare is taken care of.

In the meantime, support for Megawati from non-Muslim quarters is increasing. Many Indonesians suspect that the argument for rejecting Megawati on religious grounds is simply a cover employed by rival political parties to get her out of the way by whatever means available. Muslim leaders have pointed out that there is nothing in either the Koran or hadith (traditions) that specifically forbids women from becoming state or political leaders. Given that the Muslim-based parties are so far trailing in the vote count following the June 7 ballot, and that the two leading parties -- Megawati's PDI Perjuangan and Golkar -- are both nationalist/secular parties, this is an argument that cannot be simply dismissed.

Standing in the middle of the controversy is Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, whose ever-rational stance is that Indonesians must learn to accept whatever decision the nation's highest policy-making institution, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), makes. "It has to be that way," he said at a lecture on Batam Island, "or we will never learn to resolve our problems."

For Indonesians, whether they like it or not, it seems the moment has come to choose whether they want to become a modern democracy or stay faithful to entrenched traditions, religious or otherwise. In this case gender discrimination, at least, the two are mutually incompatible. The choice, however difficult, has to be made. It is, after all, preposterous that Indonesia is still struggling on a question of whether or not a woman can lead the country while the nation is poised to enter the third millennium.