Islam, democracy and politics in Indonesia

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.