Anies denies pandering to Islamists

JAKARTA: A former education minister in Muslim-majority Indonesia facing a run-off vote against a Christian to be Jakarta governor denied pandering to Islamists to win support and said he could unite the capital after a divisive election.

Anies Baswedan is set to take on Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok, Jakarta’s first Christian and ethnic Chinese governor, in a second-round vote on April 19. Ahok got the most votes in a first round, on Feb 15, but not by enough to avoid a run-off, unofficial counts show.

Campaigning for the poll has been overshadowed by religious tensions, with protests led by hardline group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) against Ahok, and calls for voters to choose a Muslim.

Photographs of Anies meeting FPI leader Habib Rizieq were widely published in the media, leading his critics to accuse him of tarnishing his reputation as a moderate Muslim.

“I think there’s a framing that is not fair here,” Anies said during an interview at his Jakarta home yesterday.

“If I met the Catholic community, am I then considered no longer a Muslim? If I met the Buddhist community, am I then considered no longer a Muslim?”

He said the media was giving a distorted impression of his campaign, which included meetings with a range of religious groups.

“Often times, they only see one meeting, even though I’ve gone for dozens of other meetings,” Anies said, sitting with a portrait of Sukarno, Indonesia’s founding father, hanging on a wall near him.

“I interact with all residents of Jakarta.”

Anies, a respected academic who won a Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States, was picked by President Joko Widodo to be education minister, but was dropped from the Cabinet in a reshuffle last year.

The post of Jakarta governor has been a stepping stone to higher office.

Widodo was previously governor and Ahok was his deputy.

The city vote is being widely seen as a proxy battle for the next presidential election in 2019.

If I met the Catholic community, am I then considered no longer a Muslim? If I met the Buddhist community, am I then considered no longer a Muslim? Anies Baswedan