Survey finds Muslim voters favor pluralism

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muslim voters in Indonesia tend to favor moderate, pluralistic and democratic parties rather than those parties fighting for Islamic law or an Islamic state, a poll conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) found.

The survey was conducted by the LSI between Aug. 1 and Aug. 20 and involved 2,240 respondents, of which 89.1 percent, or 1,996, were Muslim.

Of the Muslim respondents, 49.8 percent, or 994, categorized themselves as devout.

Over 51 percent of the devout Muslims said in the 2004 elections they would vote for secular, nationalist-oriented parties, represented by Golkar (34.6 percent) and the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) (14 percent), while 21.4 percent preferred parties that are steadfast in struggling for sharia, namely the United Development Party (PPP), the Crescent and Star Party (PBB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Among the 1,002 secular Muslim respondents, 38.9 percent favored Golkar and 30.5 percent picked PDI Perjuangan, compared to 11.2 percent for PPP and 7.8 percent for the National Awakening Party (PKB), a political party that claims to represent traditionalist Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama.

The survey also found that a coalition of PKB, PKS and the National Mandate Party (PAN), which would emulate the Axis Force's success in foiling PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidential bid in 1999, had the support of just one-third of devout Muslim respondents and 16.2 percent of secular Muslim respondents.

The PKB, PKS and PAN had the support of 19.2 percent of the total number of respondents, the poll revealed. When it came to supporters of parties that clearly fight for sharia -- PPP, PBB and PKS -- the level of support fell as low as 14 percent, according to the survey.

"The (Muslim-based) parties do not have enough support to win the majority of the vote in the 2004 elections," Denny J.A. of LSI said on Tuesday.

The current behavior of Muslim voters is in stark contrast to those who participated in the landmark 1955 elections where Islamic parties that struggled for sharia won 45 percent of the total vote, the survey noted. Similar voting behavior was reflected in the results of the 1999 elections.

It said Muslim leaders like PAN chairman Amien Rais and PBB chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra were less popular than nationalist figures like Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with Muslim voters.

According to the survey, Susilo topped the list with 13 percent of support from devout Muslim voters, followed by Megawati with 11.6 percent, Abdurrahman Wahid of PKB with 11.1 percent, PPP chairman Hamzah Haz with 9.2 percent, and Yusril and Amien with 7.9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.

The survey differentiated between devout Muslims and secular Muslims by the frequency with which they prayed, fasted, read the Koran and attended religious discussions and mass prayers.

LSI researchers found that the three decades of authoritarian rule under former president Soeharto played a pivotal role in suppressing the demand for sharia in the country.

They also discovered that moderate and pluralistic thinking had emerged in the country's two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.

There is a common understanding among NU and Muhammadiyah leaders and activists that Islam is compatible with democracy and does not require an Islamic state, they added.

Moderate Muslim scholars also played an important role in creating the present situation, including Nurcholish Madjid, Abdurrahman Wahid and the Liberal Muslim Network, the survey said.

It also underlined the presence of extremist groups that the researchers labeled as "anti-democracy and anti-nationalism", but they accounted for less than 2 percent of the country's population of 214 million.

"They are not only Muslim groups but non-Muslim groups as well," the survey said. Extremism, it conclude, is not the characteristic of developing countries like Indonesia.