by Debnath Guharoy
The army is in the barracks. The press is free. The constitution is alive. But from the way many elected leaders continue to behave, voters may well think politicians were put in office by divine intervention. The mayor of Bekasi, eager to follow in the footsteps of Tangerang, has now declared that he would too like to introduce sharia law. If the mayors believe they are acting in the name of people who put them in power and enforcing the will of the electorate, then they are both wrong. If both mayors believe they are actong in the name of the voting public, enacting into law what they believe has a groundswell of popular support, they would do well to look at the facts.
In the last 12 months alone, there has been a palpable hardening in the attitude of Indonesians against sharia law. From April 2009 to March 2010, the number of people who said “Islamic sharia law should be introduced in my area” declined from 43% to 36% of the population. That’s one in three people, not what an elected mayor could call a majority. Expressions of support for sharia law have even less support. A year ago, 38% of the population believed “thieves should have their hands cut off”. By March 2010, that number has slipped to 32%. “Those committing adultery should be whipped to death in public” also lost steam with an almost identical decline during the same period.
Communications and Information Minister, Titaful Sembiring, would do well to take note, not just members of religious political parties, such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), of which he is a former leader. Always a delicate subject, sharia law is increasingly being rejected, not embraced, by growing numbers of Muslims around the country. In this world’s Muslim majority nation, steadily growing numbers of moderate Muslims are looking at tomorrow’s Indonesia differently. The purists and the fundamentalists form a shrinking minority.
In the minority, the fanatical politicians are those elected leaders who provide protection to lawless groups like the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), imposing their will on a peaceful, moderate majority eager to see a modern Indonesia blossom.
Focusing on the runaway mayors of Tangerang and Bekasi, the picture is similar. They would like to impose a monority will on the majority. However, only 38% of Muslims in Tangerang think “Islamic sharia law should be implemented in my area”. In Bekasi, only 42% of the population and 42% of the Muslims agree.
Will the President of this Republic please take not ? And let the people know which side he is on ?
About the author: Debnath Guharoy is Regional Director Asia for Roy Morgan Research
