Religious leaders reject parties based on religion
JAKARTA (JP): Religious leaders yesterday warned against the formation of new political parties with ethnic or religious orientations, fearing that such organizations could lead to national disintegration.
Hasan Basri, chairman of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), said such new political parties were nominally legal but warned that the use of religious symbols could create a sense of exclusivity and cause tension.
"The presence of new parties outside the previously existing ones is something legal and good. But parties using religious symbols and teachings will be seen as exclusive and contain SARA (an acronym for tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups)," he said during a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VII on education, religion, sports and youth affairs here yesterday.
In his opinion, all political parties should be free from religious sentiments and ascribe to the state ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.
"I believe that in the future, political parties based on religious affiliations will be unpopular and disrupt national unity," he said.
New parties have been popping up due to the country's new climate of political openness. While no parties based on a particular religion have been established, there are indications that one may soon appear.
The establishment of the Chinese-Indonesian Reform Party (Parti) drew strong criticism from Chinese Moslem groups despite the new party's affirmations that it was open to all elements of society.
Sularso Sopater, chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), criticized the idea of setting up religious-based political parties, which have been called for by certain groups.
He described the establishment of such parties as nothing more than a setback to national unity.
"Public and private life based on Pancasila and the Constitution should be maintained consistently regardless of race, ethnicity, religion and tribal affiliation," he said.
He said PGI would not endorse the establishment of religious- based political parties because such organizations would likely trigger division and disintegration.
The Indonesian Bishops Council (KWI) has reacted cautiously on the issue, saying it would wait for new parties to grow before making an official stand.
"The decisive factor in a party is its mission. Parties should be closely monitored to see if they are fighting for the people's welfare or their own interests," KWI secretary-general Y. Hadiwikarta said.
He maintained that a political party could be religiously oriented but, in practice, it must fight for the interests of a majority of the people.
Blamed
Hadiwikarta blamed the politically repressive Soeharto regime for the current rush by various groups to establish new parties.
"Repressed groups are now free and they are setting up parties to voice their interests," he said.
The Indonesian Hindu Dharma Council (PHBI) and the Buddhist Council (Walubi) voiced the opinion that the use of religious symbols by any political parties would only serve to tarnish a religion's image and damage the party's own general popularity.
"The use of religious symbols and teachings in political parties would certainly affect a religion's sacredness," PHBI chairman Putu Soekreta Soeranta said at yesterday's hearing.
The Buddhist Council also protested what it perceived as discrimination against Chinese-Indonesians, who are mostly Buddhist and Christian.
"What sins have they have committed to be so inhumanely treated?" Endro S., secretary-general to the council, asked.
He pointed to the fact that only one director general was in charge of Hinduism and Buddhism at the Ministry of Religious Affairs as evidence that the two religions were being discriminated against. (rms)