The most recent research on Indonesian political behavior found that religion has not had a crucial role in the three general elections of Indonesia’s reformation era (Saiful Mujani, R. William Liddle and Kuskrido Ambardi: 2012). Some Islamic-based political parties were established at the beginning to gain votes from the Muslim electorate, but they have put up a mediocre performance compared to the nationalist and secularist parties.
For example, the United Development Party (PPP) exploited its opposition to Ahmadiyah, a minority sect in Islam, and managed only to win 5.32 percent of the vote in the 2009 legislative election.
When religion, particularly in the Muslim context, has hardly played a major role in politics, it is difficult to understand why religious sentiment should be used to discredit a certain candidate in Jakarta’s gubernatorial election.
It means people who make use of such issues have not learned the lessons of Indonesia’s political experience.
Promoting religious sentiment can be suicidal for, if not actually backfiring on, the user. It would be better for them to promote secular issues, such as good governance, corruption eradication and bureaucratic reform.
The writer is the manager of the Liberal Islam Network and was awarded an Australian Development Scholarship (ADS).
