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Prabowo will not create Islamic caliphate, says Christian brother
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Presidential candidate and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
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residential candidate Prabowo Subianto’s younger brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, who is also a member of Prabowo's campaign team, said he could guarantee that the Gerindra Party chairman would not seek to create an Islamic state if he won the upcoming presidential election.
Hashim made the statement at a “Diversity and Peaceful Election” event organized by the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) on Sunday.
At the event, a woman asked Hashim, who is a Christian, about the support Prabowo received from the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and hard-line mass organization Islam Defenders Front (FPI), and whether that meant Prabowo would create a caliphate.
“I will tell you ma’am, what is the guarantee that Prabowo will not create a caliphate? I am that guarantee,” he said as quoted by tempo.co. “My Catholic older sister and brother-in-law, they are also the guarantees.”
Prabowo’s support among conservative Muslims, including former sympathizers of the now-banned Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), has led to rumors that he would turn Indonesia into an Islam-based state if he was elected.
Hashim, however, said, as a politician, Prabowo would accept support from anyone, and that it did not necessarily indicate what Prabowo would do if he was president.
“We accept support from anyone, except the devil,” he said. “We would even accept support from the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of PKI [now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party] members, as long as Prabowo is not led to the hammer and sickle.” (kmt/ipa)
