Jakarta tensions run high as voting day finally arrives
An ethnic Chinese Christian and a Muslim compete in runoff
The banner hanging at the entrance of a conservative mosque in eastern Jakarta carried a curt message: It is forbidden in Islam to vote for a non-Muslim as a leader — in this case of the capital of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
To drive home the point, the banner threatened that anyone who voted for Jakarta’s incumbent Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, in the runoff election today would be denied a customary prayer ritual for dead family members.
The city’s public order agency tore down the banner and similar ones at other mosques around the capital and warned hard-line religious leaders against making claims that Muslim voters are not permitted to vote for non-Muslims. Indonesia has a secular government and Constitution.
But the messages of racial and ethnic discrimination continue to loom large over the bitterly contested race for governor in Jakarta — and larger still across Indonesia, where a pluralistic tradition and nascent democracy are facing a stern test from hardline Islamic sentiment.
“Intolerance is already there and has been rising,” said Endy Bayuni, editor-inchief of The Jakarta Post newspaper. “This election makes it a bit worse, but it’s part of a trend dating back at least 10 years.”
Ahok, who is ethnic Chinese, has also been subjected to smears on social media accusing him of being a puppet of Beijing who wants to ban Islam in Indonesia.
The governor has been campaigning while simultaneously standing trial on blasphemy charges after he lightheartedly cited a verse from the Koran last September that warns Muslims against taking Christians and Jews as friends. He went on to say that given Indonesia’s transition to democracy since the late 1990s, it should be acceptable for Muslims to cast ballots for a Christian.
Hard-line Islamist groups responded with a series of mass protests — including one in November that turned violent — demanding that the governor be prosecuted or even lynched. Under pressure, the police charged Ahok with blasphemy.
Supporters of Ahok have accused his political opponents of orchestrating the demonstrations to sabotage his campaign. Before the protests, he had been polling as high as 52%, a level of support that would have enabled him to win the election outright in mid-February.
Portraying himself as a victim of sectarian-motivated political attacks — despite a decades-old ban on such attacks in a country with significant Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities — Ahok won the first round with 43% of the vote.
But because he did not beat the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff, he faces the second-place finisher, Anies Baswedan, a former minister of education and culture. Mr Baswedan surged late in the race to capture 40% of the vote, based on his background as a university rector, a series of strong debate performances — and a strategic flaunting of his Muslim faith.
Recent polls indicate that the candidates are in a dead heat. A third, Agus Yudhoyono, the son of a former Indonesian president, was eliminated after the first round, in which he received 17% of the vote.
While the candidates have debated bread-and-butter issues on live national television — including Jakarta’s chronic flooding problems, a lack of reliable public transportation and inadequate public housing — religion and ethnicity have tainted the race from the beginning, according to analysts.
Ahok, the grandson of a tin miner from southern China, is the second non-Muslim governor in Jakarta’s history. If elected, he would be the first non-Muslim directly elected to the prominent post. He inherited the position after his predecessor and key political ally, Joko Widodo, was elected president in 2014.
Known for being brash and speaking bluntly, Ahok is different from the softspoken Javanese politicians the capital is used to. He has regularly berated civil servants as corrupt and incompetent in contrast to his squeaky clean, “can-do” style of management.
Aside from the blasphemy allegations, that leadership style has grated some voters as arrogance, in particular poor and lower-class voters who analysts say may tip the election. Yet Ahok appears to have redeemed himself to some.
“His campaign team is reaching out to Muslim communities and the Islamic political parties,” said Greg Fealy, an expert on Indonesian affairs at Australian National University. “And he’s been very self-disciplined in what he says — and he needs that to win.”
Kevin Evans, a political analyst based in Jakarta, said Ahok appeared to have recovered since the protests in autumn.
“Late last year, Ahok was dead in the water over the blasphemy claim,” Mr Evans said. “But the court case has helped him by generating sympathy, which allows Muslim supporters of Ahok who were saying in the first round that they couldn’t support someone who insults their religion to go back to him.”
Ahok owes some of his gains to the support of Muslim voters such as Novaliana Tambunan, 36, a civil servant.
“There are more open spaces, better school buildings in Jakarta, the flooding is getting better and government services are faster and more professional. We don’t have to pay bribes,” she said, adding that she was surprised at the level of attacks against Ahok for being an ethnic-Chinese Christian.
However, Andi Siti Hapsah, 44, a publicschool teacher who supports Mr Baswedan, said she was not surprised at the allegations against Ahok.
“There is no other choice for me but to vote for a candidate who has the same religion as me,” said Andi, a Muslim. “I’m worried every time I look at social media and read about Ahok’s behaviour. It makes me hate him even more.”