Indonesian Islamic parties unfazed by PAS defeat
Indonesian Islamic parties unfazed by PAS defeat
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The leaders of the country's Islamic parties have reluctantly
accepted the defeat of political Islam by Malaysia's dominant
secular political grouping in the neighboring country's national
elections on Sunday, but said it was far from being final.
Responding to the trouncing of the opposition Parti Islam se-
Malaysia (PAS) in predominantly Muslim Malaysia, they said it did
not necessarily reflect a weakening in support for Islamic
parties.
They claimed that PAS's defeat to Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi's secular National Front coalition was only
incidental to the Indonesian situation, and that Islamic parties
in Indonesia would be able to address any challenges they faced.
"What happened to PAS in Malaysia is not final. It is
connected with the party's internal problems and domestic
politics in that country," Hamdan Zoelva, an influential leader
of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), said on Tuesday.
Badawi's comprehensive victory is seen by those opposed to
political Islam as countering fears that increasing religious
sentiment in Malaysia could be expressed in radicalism and
extremism. Taking a tough stance against the militants, Badawi,
who took over the Malaysian leadership from his predecessor,
Mahathir Muhammad, last October, has changed Western perceptions
of the country as a risky place following terrorist network Al-
Qaeda's attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and the
Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist group's bombings in Bali on Oct. 12,
2002.
Mutammimul Ula, a worker with another Islam-oriented party,
the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), concurred with Hamdan and
said that the Islamic parties in Indonesia would continue to push
their manifestos to strengthen political Islam here.
"We are working hard to win the hearts of the people," he told
The Jakarta Post.
Djoko Susilo, a legislator from the National Mandate Party
(PAN), a moderate Islamic party led by Amien Rais, said he was
fearful that Indonesia's Islamic parties would face a similar
fate in the legislative elections scheduled for April 5.
He said that PAN as a moderate Islamic party in Indonesia was
targeting more votes than it received in the 1999 elections. "We
need a religion, but moderation is also necessary," he said.
Political analyst Saiful Mujani from the Freedom Institute has
observed that Islamic parties were losing popularity in Indonesia
due to their inability to accommodate modernity.
He said that there had been a change in political culture
among Muslim voters.
Saiful, a graduate of Ohio State University, insisted that
Islam was not a marketable political commodity among Indonesian
voters.
Sharia, which was espoused by a number of parties, was proving
to be less attractive to voters as time went on.
"Muslim voters can easily distinguish Islam as a religion from
the Islamic parties fighting for political influence. Most voters
support those parties with secular platforms due to the changing
culture," he said, adding that this had been borne out by the
1999 elections.
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The leaders of the country's Islamic parties have reluctantly
accepted the defeat of political Islam by Malaysia's dominant
secular political grouping in the neighboring country's national
elections on Sunday, but said it was far from being final.
Responding to the trouncing of the opposition Parti Islam se-
Malaysia (PAS) in predominantly Muslim Malaysia, they said it did
not necessarily reflect a weakening in support for Islamic
parties.
They claimed that PAS's defeat to Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi's secular National Front coalition was only
incidental to the Indonesian situation, and that Islamic parties
in Indonesia would be able to address any challenges they faced.
"What happened to PAS in Malaysia is not final. It is
connected with the party's internal problems and domestic
politics in that country," Hamdan Zoelva, an influential leader
of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), said on Tuesday.
Badawi's comprehensive victory is seen by those opposed to
political Islam as countering fears that increasing religious
sentiment in Malaysia could be expressed in radicalism and
extremism. Taking a tough stance against the militants, Badawi,
who took over the Malaysian leadership from his predecessor,
Mahathir Muhammad, last October, has changed Western perceptions
of the country as a risky place following terrorist network Al-
Qaeda's attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and the
Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist group's bombings in Bali on Oct. 12,
2002.
Mutammimul Ula, a worker with another Islam-oriented party,
the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), concurred with Hamdan and
said that the Islamic parties in Indonesia would continue to push
their manifestos to strengthen political Islam here.
"We are working hard to win the hearts of the people," he told
The Jakarta Post.
Djoko Susilo, a legislator from the National Mandate Party
(PAN), a moderate Islamic party led by Amien Rais, said he was
fearful that Indonesia's Islamic parties would face a similar
fate in the legislative elections scheduled for April 5.
He said that PAN as a moderate Islamic party in Indonesia was
targeting more votes than it received in the 1999 elections. "We
need a religion, but moderation is also necessary," he said.
Political analyst Saiful Mujani from the Freedom Institute has
observed that Islamic parties were losing popularity in Indonesia
due to their inability to accommodate modernity.
He said that there had been a change in political culture
among Muslim voters.
Saiful, a graduate of Ohio State University, insisted that
Islam was not a marketable political commodity among Indonesian
voters.
Sharia, which was espoused by a number of parties, was proving
to be less attractive to voters as time went on.
"Muslim voters can easily distinguish Islam as a religion from
the Islamic parties fighting for political influence. Most voters
support those parties with secular platforms due to the changing
culture," he said, adding that this had been borne out by the
1999 elections.