Hard-Line Islamists Losing Ground in Indonesia
TOM WRIGHT of WSJ think that hard-line Islamic parties is fading in terms of influence
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The popularity of hard-line Islamic parties is on the wane in Indonesia as it prepares for presidential elections this year, making the Southeast Asian nation a rare example in the Muslim world of a place where secular democracy is taking hold.
That comes as a surprise to some. Five years ago, when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became Indonesia’s first democratically elected leader, the nation was viewed by Western governments and analysts as similar to Pakistan—a place where extremist Islamists were gaining a stronghold.
The facts are Islamic parties never been popular to the extend that they could reach enough votes to lead the country either in executive or in legislative.
If Islamic parties were to win any general election, it should’ve been in 1955, the first Indonesia general election, when Indonesians had just finished fighting the Dutch and its alliance and when Muslim clerics roles in leading the struggle against the colonialist Dutch were prominent and significant. Even at that time, all Islamic parties could only amass less than 50 percent.
In post Suharto’s era, Islamic parties is divided into pieces. Even if all of them were united they won’t reach 20 percent. Meanwhile, unity among them just like the possibility of uniting US’ Republican and Democratic party in one entity.
hm agak bingung juga nih om.tapi yap mau gimana lagi nih.sek bentar baca ulang ajah ah
kondisi politik tanah air memang terus bergerak dari dekade ke dekade. Konfigurasi kekuatan parpol juga mengalami perubahan, termasuk keberadaan kelompok islam garis keras.
banyak aspek yang mempengaruhinya, perubahan sosial memang gak bis dibendung.
thanks mas
Wah ternyata klo baca artikel dari sumbernya langsung lebih banyak ya mas…top!
We won’t have a strong islamic party until there is only one islamic party in Indonesia.
Ayo bersatulah partai Islam di Indonesia
most of islamic parties in Indonesia doesn’t represent indonesian moslems importance, they are busy to handle their own interests and forget to care their constituent interests. perhaps it is the western big gimmick scenario, or maybe its just our own weakness who have lost our faith and determination..??
Islam is what most of Indonesians embrace, but Islam has never been practiced in domains, other than ritual and cultural ones here..We pray, we go to mosque,we fast.we celebrate “lebaran”,mudik,.bla bla bla…but we litter wherever we want&like (although we already know and understand the meaning of “Anna dholfatu minal iman”),we use plastic containers freely as though we never read the dangerous impact of plastic rubbish on the environment.Moslems’ behaviors and attitude sometimes contradict Islamic teachings in Qur’an and Hadith. So ironic!
Moslems in Indonesia are inclined to be extremely fragmented, that’s why this nation is never united even though Islam advises that strongly…We’re big in number but weak. We’re always lagged behind, and become “a sitting duck” for the ferocious hunters coming from overseas.