America’s presidential election wasn’t the only major election this past year. Just this week, Jakarta – the capital city of Indonesia – went through its own era-defining http://time.com/4672921/ahok-jakarta-election-indonesia-islam-pluralism/gubernatorial election. The involvement of eligible voters is a vital principle of democracy, particularly when it comes to major elections this great. As an international student who moved halfway across the world for college, I was disappointed to find out that I wouldn’t be able to participate in the voting process.
Indonesia is the largest Muslim populated country in the world right now. With that being said, freedom of religion is also promoted for the citizens. Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism are the six official religions recognized by the government. The government ensures that the law does not require citizens to abide by Islamic religious rules, but instead an over-arching decree that protects the people and their freedom. This is an important part of the country because the very basis of our history resides in the liberty from the multiple nations that have colonized us in the past.
When Joko Widodo, the former governor of Jakarta, was elected as the president of Indonesia last year, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama automatically succeeded him as the acting governor in the period of time before the 2017 election. The Indonesian government is predominantly made up of Muslims, which angered a large percentage of citizens that a Chinese Christian man became the governor of the capital city. With this, Purnama, also known as Ahok, became the face of two large minority groups in Indonesia.
This makes Ahok’s decision to run for governor of Jakarta in the 2017 election an even bigger anomaly. A great part of this election season has been dedicated to a trial conducted by the Supreme Court against him for supposedly speaking blasphemy about the Qur’an in a video posted to Facebook last year.
The uploader of the video has since confessed that the video was heavily edited to make it seem like Ahok was speaking ill about a section of the holy book, though he was not. Yet, the trial is currently still ongoing, with a possibility that he may be convicted for a crime he did not even commit.
Though it is easy for Americans to overlook such a situation that is currently happening in the other side of the world, the 2017 election of Jakarta’s governor may become a defining moment for the Indonesian government. Some may see his position as governor of the capital city as the stepping stone to becoming the president. Thus, religious Islamic groups are worried that Indonesia may soon become more open to liberal ideas and views, a repercussion which may include the spread of Christianity throughout the country.
This kind of discrimination against a minority in the public face is unlike the foundations for freedom of our country. Indonesia was liberated from colonizing countries to become a free country that is open to everyone, regardless of their identities.
