Islam, democracy and politics in Indonesia

Hidayat Nur Wahid, Jakarta

The relationship between Islam and democracy will be a defining issue for this country in the future, as it is now.

The challenge is that so many believe that the two are in basic conflict. We believe, however, that democracy goes to the roots of Islam. I would like to describe three aspects of these roots.

The first aspect is the Islamic view of humankind. It is a view that humanizes humans. Humans were created as men and women, not with original sin, nor as members of a favorite nation of God. While Islam prepares humans for another life, its main concern is to make them capable of living in this life.

In addition, Islam's view of humankind is universal in spirit. The second aspect is the principle of learning. The Koran encourages Muslims to learn and to acquire knowledge from whatever source, regardless of race, ethnicity or nationality. Throughout the history of Islam, various ethnic, racial and religious groups shared in the search for knowledge.

The third aspect is the moral system of Islam that encourages wisdom and not egoism. Islam includes all the commonly accepted moral rules but the teaching of morality is more practical than theoretical -- through example and by modeling moral behavior. The prophet Mohammad is the prime exemplar.

Let me now talk about the consequences of the above three Islamic aspects that are relevant to democracy.

The first consequence is egalitarianism and tolerance.

The Medina Charter, written by the Prophet Mohammad for the multi-religious city-state of Medina, can lay claim to being the first written constitution in the world. Yet it is modern in that it gave equal rights to every citizen in a plural society and gave them a say in governmental matters. One clause of the charter guaranteed the right of the various communities to practice their own religion.

The Medina Charter and the above statements have direct implications for the development of democracy.

A second consequence is the democratic principle of shura in Islam. Shura is one of the four main principles, along with justice, equality, and human dignity, of a political organization in Islam. Shura is based on three perspectives. One is that all persons in a society are equal in human and civil rights. A second is that the majority view is best in deciding public issues.

The third is that justice, equality and human dignity can best be obtained through shura governance.

At the root of governance in Islam is the idea of ummah or nation. The ummah has a common moral outlook and does not recognize differences in race, territory or nation. The ummah of Islam includes the entire Muslim population on Earth as well as those non-Muslims living in peace with Islam.

Finally, a third consequence is that of moderation. According to Islam, humans are neither angels nor devils. They should not be materialistic or ascetics. Neither should they be on the far ends of individualism and collectivism. Islam rejects all extremes, whether in the form of consumerism or terrorism. At the same time, Islam encourages a democracy that can protect the weak and poor as well as supporting economic growth.

The moderation of Islam and its promise of a more spiritual society can contribute to an alternative future in the 21st century that balances social welfare with economic prosperity.

Let me now touch upon the specific theme of the conference -- that of Islam and Political Parties in Asia -- by talking about the present Indonesian experience.

That experience began with the constitutional reforms since 1999. The reforms made the mandate of the people the highest authority in the land, rather than the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as it was before. That also meant the inclusion of many more parties in the electoral process. In addition, it included all citizens in the first ever direct election of president and vice president.

The MPR's power has been lessened but it still has powers to amend the constitution, to inaugurate the president and to impeach the president. Its mandate also lies in its composition of the House of Representatives (DPR) consisting of party members indirectly elected and the new "Senate" or DPR members who are directly elected and are not associated with political parties.

We have also had the first direct elections of regional governments. These direct elections will contribute to national leadership and will mean that democracy has reached the regions. It will be a long process but we expect that it will result in minimizing the issues of terrorism and fundamentalism -- both of which arise from being excluded from democratic processes. We hope there will also be direct elections to democratize the House, the members of which are now indirectly elected through the political parties.

The new Indonesian democracy made it possible for a small Islamic party like the one I helped to establish, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), to gain influence by running under a platform of anticorruption, transparency and public service. It is a grass-roots organization that focuses on the universal values of Islam.

In this respect, the PKS promotes the adoption of the "Medina Charter" instead of the Jakarta Charter. The Jakarta Charter is the term used for the proposed additional words in the Constitution that would have required Muslims to follow Islamic law.

The PKS won about 7 percent of the electoral votes, which under current regulations allow it to have candidates running in the presidential race.

I was elected to be speaker of the MPR, despite facing a candidate supported by the larger parties. After being elected, to set an example of good governance, I resigned as party leader. While this is normal practice in most countries to avoid conflict of interest, the normal practice for a party leader in Indonesia is to retain the position after gaining public office.

We believe the moral authority gained through such actions can be helpful in fighting the most pressing problem in Indonesia today -- which is corruption at all levels of our society. Other institutions in our new democracy, such as a free press and a flourishing non-governmental organization (NGO) sector can help to prevent corruption. But, in our society, leading by example plays a big role in the fight against corruption.

To play a positive role in the new democracy, political parties themselves should practice democracy. For example, the PKS itself has to be free of corruption to retain and increase its electoral performance. While we are not perfect, we have strict party rules and sanctions that relate to corruption that we do not hesitate to enforce.

Another aspect of our party that is new in Indonesian political practices is the relatively large proportion of women in our party. We hope we can be role models for other Indonesian organizations, so that they too can follow the new politics of democracy.

Let me now conclude by emphasizing two challenges that I hope this conference will take up.

The first is the aspect of an inclusive democracy. We need a dialog with those who do not necessarily share our views and to allow them to participate in the democratic process. These include those in Islam and those of other faiths.

I hope that by sharing the PKS struggle in this respect, we can contribute in a small way toward the "best practices" of democratic political parties.

The writer is the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker. The article is an excerpt of his speech at the Congress of Democrat from the Islamic World in Jakarta Sept. 6-9.