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Crackdown on radicalism to protect pluralism
The last decade has seen the growth of extraordinary free space for hardline Muslims.
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Special interview: President Joko (Antara/Rosa Panggabean)
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recent cartoon in The New York Times depicted President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo spraying poison into menacing looking carcass flowers, symbols of radical Islamic groups that have long “undermined” our pluralist nation from within.
His latest, controversial government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) has jolted Indonesians on an issue rarely taken seriously until recently — the expansion of radicalism and its impact on society. The government can now skip the courts and ban mass organizations considered violating the Pancasila state ideology, its first target being the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), which campaigns for a caliphate.
Under the presidential system, issuing a Perppu is not new. Under the 10 years of the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 18 Perppu were released, the last following a public uproar over threats to change local direct elections to indirect elections.
However, the latest Perppu comes on the heels of Jokowi’s apparent struggle in consolidating the Cabinet on the one hand and facing opposition in the legislature on the other. Currently, several mass groups are seen as not supporting Pancasila, the nation’s founding ideology that promotes pluralism, hence are considered threats to national unity. This is one main reason why the Perppu was signed.
Several politicians have expressed wariness over the power to disband any mass organization deemed anti-Pancasila, particularly those from Islamist-leaning parties.
Supporters of such parties, along with HTI supporters, were among those who participated in large protests against then Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who was at the time seeking a second term.
This is one main cause of anger against the new regulation: Its seemingly vague definition of “anti-Pancasila” may impact Islamist groups just like measures taken during the authoritarian New Order.
