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SBY's difficult dance with political Islam
It may seem premature to examine the nature of the relationship between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's next administration and political Islam in Indonesia
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t may seem premature to examine the nature of the relationship between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's next administration and political Islam in Indonesia. However, since the bombings of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels violently distorted the political climate, there are signs that his prospective dealings with political Islam, and vice versa, will not be easy.
President SBY's immediate reaction to the terrorist blasts was to warn against the perpetrators and the "Draculas", who were involved in past acts of evil like "making people disappear". To everybody's surprise, he linked the blasts to the presidential elections. A fortnight later, on July 30, the President instructed local state apparatuses to be extra vigilant and crush terrorism.
SBY's immediate response was both personal and political. The July 17 blasts occurred just a week after he won the presidential elections and proudly received warm congratulations from all over the world, including from the man he wishes to be his close friend and ally: US President Barrack Obama. He celebrated his wife's birthday in the same week. The terrorist blasts thus destroyed the country's post-elections euphoria and SBY's happiest week ever.
In contrast, his latest statement reminded the nation to be united against terrorism and remain vigilant. By then he must have been aware of the general predicament posed by political Islam. A number of prominent leaders of the Nadhatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the two largest Muslim mass-based bodies, have issued strong statements condemning the terrorists; the PKS (Prosperous Justice Party) also strongly condemned the terror.
The two largest Muslim forces, the NU and Muhammadiyah, do not normally engage in politics. Yet, much to the president's dismay, they publicly declared their support for Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto's bid for the presidency. SBY reportedly expressed his disappointment and called their supportive gestures a breach to their self-defined khitoh (supreme mission) not to engage in "practical politics".
SBY's relationship to the two organizations has been rather uneasy since ex-president Abdurrachman *Gus Dur' Wahid, still a respected NU patron, squarely opposed his policies and Muhammadiyah's grand old man, Syafi'ie Maarif, pointedly referred to Kalla as "the real president".
Indeed, there has been complaints that SBY has never paid a visit to either of the organizations as a gesture of respect and friendship to the two bodies that have become the icons of Indonesia's claim to be the largest democratic country with a moderate majority.
So, how are we to define SBY's relationship with political Islam? The question becomes relevant as some political parties intensify their efforts to joint SBY's second administration.
The Muslim-based parties - other than the PKS, which is ready to join SBY's ruling coalition - have been weakened. The National Awakening Party ( PKB) has become a minor party since Gus Dur left it, and the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP) are badly divided. Despite SBY's now greater electorate mandate, he may have to rely on the PKS in order to implement reforms.
This, of course, would give the PKS greater clout. Hence, the PKS has fiercely resisted attempts by Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to join the incoming ruling coalition.
Meanwhile, SBY has apparently been hurt as the PKS remained silent on the jilbab issue its leaders raised as an attack on his wife, and the allegation that the wife of his running mate, Boediono, was a Roman-Catholic.
Even more painful was the fact that his choice of Boediono as running mate has been described as a "bad" choice.
Yet, despite all this, SBY will have to keep the PKS on board. Not only will the PKS lend his administration the Islamic credibility he needs, but the party has to be recognized as a potential force he needs to work with, and at the same time, to keep check, if he wants some political stability.
The PKS certainly has its own reasons for joining SBY's coalition, as its the only way for it to consolidate its influence right now. The party is a vehicle with which to penetrate the state so it can implement its proselytizing mission (dakwah). In theory, this is quite the opposite of the NU and Muhammadiyah's "nationalist" discourse, which seeks to do the same, but not through the state power.
Basically, it's all about what was once called "Indonesianizing Islam," rather than Islamizing Indonesia. Given that the PKS apparently opted for the latter approach, inspired by Egypt's al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun movement, the PKS will have to choose between the words of God and implementing Sharia law, and Indonesia's constitution.
So far, rhetorically, they simply dance in between. At a local level, with their millions of sympathizers, the PKS may not be Islamic state-minded either, but, like Palestine's Hamas, it is undoubtedly a highly socially aware force that effectively engages with the society. Its spectacular entry in 2004 and relative success in this year elections should remind friends and foes of its future potential.
The President and the PKS are thus bound to find themselves in an odd symbiosis - a political "love-hate" relationship. It's this kind of dynamic that will likely await us in the next SBY administration.
The writer is journalist and Jakarta correspondent for Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
