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Presidential race hovers around religiosity
“There’s no guarantee that a religious person can carry out his job properly and is not corrupt,” Chriseva Ankelita said, “I mean, in this country, even haj funds were embezzled.”
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Move on up: Participants from vocational school SMK Malang in East Java show off their modern dance moves in the General Elections Commission (KPU) Flashmob Dance category during the 2019 Malang Dance Festival in the Gajayana Building in Malang on Monday. High school students across Malang took part in the competition held to encourage first-time voters to cast their votes on polling day on April 17 as well as to celebrate the 105th anniversary of the city.
(The Jakarta Post/Aman Rochman)
F
or Nur Aini, voting for a pious Muslim candidate in the upcoming presidential election is important. Although she lives in a democratic country, Nur believes that as a Muslim, her religion serves as a guide for the election.
As her only options in the two-horse race are incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo or challenger Prabowo Subianto — who are both Muslim — Nur said she looked at their backgrounds and supporting parties, among other things, to find out how religious they were.
Nur pointed out that she thought Jokowi’s reelection bid was backed by more liberal parties such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), while Prabowo’s candidacy was backed by Muslim clerics.
“Knowing their track record is necessary, but it’s more important to vote for a candidate with piety because a devoutly religious person would carry out the people’s will,” said the 25-year-old from Bekasi, West Java.
Not everyone, however, concurs with her. Chriseva Ankelita is among those who believes that the religiosity of a candidate does not matter as much as their capabilities, integrity and humanity to lead diverse communities in the nation.
“There’s no guarantee that a religious person can carry out his job properly and is not corrupt,” Chriseva said, “I mean, in this country, even haj funds were embezzled.”
In the world’s third-largest democracy where Muslims account for nearly 90 percent of the country’s 260 million citizens, courting the support of Muslims is believed to be key to winning the majority of votes in an election.
