Disputed Indonesia Poll: Logic versus Enforcement

 I- Indonesian Democracy: Not a model for Islamic world

Today, the non-Islamic world, led by the anti-Islamic global outfits, has equated their regimes as democratic ones and Muslim regimes are counter posed to the democracy values and have successfully managed to project Muslim world, especially Arab nations, anti-democratic because they are ruled by Muslims and don’t let non-Muslims to rule over their nations. This attitude presupposes that Christian and Jewish world is being ruled by Muslims and the anti-Islamic democrats let the Muslims control them and their resources.

Islamic Indonesia, essentially ruled by Christian leaders, is being spotted by the western criminal democracies as the best democracy of the world, because non-Muslims have managed to rule an Islamic country. Western anti-Islamic media hawks recommend Indonesia for all Muslim nations, including the Arab world, to enable the Muslims to live in great harmony with Christian-Jewish world. USA or any other western nation should also try it with a Muslim ruler. 

Foreign poll monitors as well as Indonesia's poll watchdog acknowledged the problems. Election Supervisory Body chief Nur Hidayat Sardini said that "there were many violations". Mrs Megawati boycotted the formal announcement of results from the election commission. "Because there are still unresolved legal issues, we are rejecting the presidential election results from the KPU (election commission)" she said the campaign would lodge a challenge with the Constitutional Court. Both defeated candidates had alleged that the voter lists were flawed in the run-up to the elections, amid claims that duplicate names and those of dead people were appearing on the electoral rolls. Kalla, meanwhile, said that he would appeal over the voter list issue, but had not yet decided whether to accept the official results, AFP reported.  

Spread across a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Ethnically it is highly diverse, with more than 300 local languages. The people range from rural hunter-gatherers to a modern urban elite. The election commission stipulates that the opposition candidates have 72 hours from the time the results are formally announced to challenge them. Megawati Sukarnoputri believed that there were "unresolved legal issues" over the vote. A third candidate, Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, received 12.4% of the vote in the 8 July poll and has said he will challenge the voter lists. They had alleged in the run-up to the elections that the voter lists were flawed.

  II- Incumbency Factor or Fraud?

Interestingly, the Western media that have called a big hue and cry over Iran’s poll only to discredit Ahamadinejad, have not talked about the poll irregularities in Indonesia by the rulers to say in power. But the incumbent president seems to have been involved in nefarious activities to win the poll. According to the Indonesian Election Commission, the results in the 8 July presidential election show that the incumbent president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, former Army Chief of Staff, has 60.8% of the national vote, giving him a resounding victory. Former president Mrs Megawati secured 26..8% of the vote, while Yusuf Kalla, the vice president, received 12.41% of the vote. There are already indications that the results may be challenged by opposition candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri.

 It's rare when any political leader wins a 60% plus mandate in a free and fair election, which is why commentary on last week's Indonesian election has focused on the personal success of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, educated in USA.. Yudhoyono is a graduate of the U.S. Army's Command and Staff College. He was elected president in 2004 and Indonesians have been impressed by his ability to manage the economy and clamp down on corruption. Many see him as someone who has turned the economy around and brought much-needed stability and security to the country.

The election marked a huge surge in support for the Democrats - who entered the political race just five years ago. That has sparked some intense jockeying for position ahead of the presidential poll in two months' time. This result - long predicted - has already turned the current presidential partnership on its head. Five years ago the Democrats contested their first election and came away with just 7% of the vote. To boost their political weight in the presidential race back then, they teamed up with the grand old party of Indonesian politics, Golkar, and won. The current Vice-President, Yusuf Kalla, meanwhile has been struggling to hold together his fracturing Golkar party, while pitching his own run at the presidency. It may be messy, but a decade on from Indonesia's democratic revolution, that is probably no bad thing.  Results in the recent elections confirm the president's Democrat Party in first place with 20.85% of the vote 0n 2009 May 8. Its two main rivals - the PDIP and Golkar were far off in number of votes.

Indonesia is fast marching towards anti-Islamic goals. Indonesian media promote the western culture of fraud, duplicity and also anti-Islamism, in the name democracy.  Media have worked for the incumbent president. Indonesians have been impressed by Yudhoyono’s “ability” to manage the economy and clamp down on corruption. He meant more stability, more growth, and more security. Most see him as the man who helped to turn their economy around, someone who brought much needed stability and security to this vast archipelago. It was not always so peaceful. In the early part of the decade, Indonesian and foreign lives were lost in a series of deadly attacks across the country. After four years of calm, many inside and outside Indonesia were beginning to believe that things had changed - until twin bombs exploded in two luxury hotels in the heart of Jakarta's plush business district killing nine people and injuring dozens more. People in Jakarta were shocked by what happened but still feel President Yudhoyono is the man to lead the nation out of this crisis. During the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, Yudhoyono stated that the Pope's comments were "unwise and inappropriate," but also that "Indonesian Muslims should have wisdom, patience, and self-restraint to address this sensitive issue....We need them so that harmony among people is not at stake”.

Since 2000, Indonesia's economy has grown at an average of more than 4% a year. Last year the rate was 6%. Indonesia faces demands for independence in several provinces, where “secessionists” have been encouraged by East Timor's 1999 success in breaking away after a traumatic 25 years of occupation. Lying near the intersection of shifting tectonic plates, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A powerful undersea quake in late 2004 sent massive waves crashing into coastal areas of Sumatra and into coastal communities across South and East Asia. The disaster left more than 220,000 Indonesians dead or missing.  

III- Indonesia: Political Path toward Anti-Islamism?

Media crippled the right of criticism and Indianesian Muslim voters seems to have voted for the incumbent presdient.  For example, when President Yudhoyono was criticized because his wife often appears in public without a head covering, or jilbab, voters shrugged off the criticism. It is yet another demonstration of the appeal of free institutions, in liev of Sharia’, in this case to people with East Asian value systems and in a country with the largest Muslim population in the world.

Sophisticated kingdoms existed before the arrival of the Dutch, who consolidated their hold over two centuries, eventually uniting the archipelago in around 1900. After Japan's wartime occupation ended, independence was proclaimed in 1945 by Sukarno, the independence movement's leader. The Dutch transferred sovereignty in 1949 after an armed struggle. Long-term leader General Suharto came to power in the wake of an abortive coup in 1965. So too were a variety of civil society groups that thrived despite restrictions from the Suharto regime. He imposed authoritarian rule while allowing technocrats to run the economy with considerable success. But his policy of allowing army involvement in all levels of government, down to village level, fostered corruption. His "transmigration" programs - which moved large numbers of landless farmers from Java to other parts of the country - fanned ethnic conflict.

Suharto fell from power after riots in 1998 and escaped efforts to bring him to justice for decades of dictatorship. The financial collapse that brought about President Suharto's resignation in 1998 pushed more than a quarter of the country's population below the official poverty line. Post-Suharto Indonesia has made the transition to democracy. Power has been devolved away from the central government and the first direct presidential elections were held in 2004. On 5 January 2007, Yudhoyono and his wife visited Suharto, who was again hospitalized due to anaemia as well as heart and kidney problems. After the visit, Yudhoyono made an appeal to all Indonesians to pray for Suharto's recovery. East Timor's violent separation from Indonesia severely damaged the country's international reputation and threatened the breakup of the entire country.

Poliitcs has been so privitised that Islamization has never been the goal of Indonesia, but “demcoracy” has beocme a tlak oaf the town beyond Indonesia now. Ten years ago it wasn't hard to find skeptics about the democratic experiment in Indonesia. But the rulers have engineered that meticulously. The country has made strides in other areas as well. The war in Aceh has ended. Secessionist sentiment elsewhere in the country has largely disappeared, thanks in part to a transition to democracy. Three consecutive free and fair presidential elections is one mark of that. And the Indonesian police have terrorized the pro-Islamc gorups. Above all, Indonesia's political process has displayed a remarkable degree of maturity by choosing non-Muslims as their rulers.

IV- Suppression of Pro-Islamic Movement

Indonesia practices multi-cultural varieties. Indonesia has seen great turmoil in recent years, having faced the Asian financial crisis, the fall of President Suharto after 32 years in office, the first free elections since the 1960s, the loss of East Timor, independence demands from restive provinces, bloody ethnic and religious conflict and a devastating tsunami. Indonesia's press was financially independent and competitive, so the country had the basis for a free media as soon as censorship restrictions were lifted. Many of the country's leaders were also educated in democratic countries.

For decades now non-Muslim controlled world’s largest Islamic society in Indonesia. Hailed around the world as the best Islamic democracy and a model state for Islamic world to emulate, Indonesia is now in the midst of troubles. One of the defeated candidates in Indonesia's presidential election is to challenge the result.

Indonesia has tolerated and even promoted anti-Islamic deformations in the society. So much so, they are unable to distinguish between Islamic and unIslamic.   Indonesia's first two democratically elected presidents were Abdurrahman Wahid, a devout Muslim leader and proponent of religious tolerance, and Megawati Sukarnoputri, a passionate spokeswoman for “democracy”. Neither presidency was very successful, but the values each embodied were influential.

None can odubt the silent processof anti-Islamization of world’s largest Muslm naiton, promotted by the vested interests in the West and East. No single explanation can account for the “progress” of such a complex country over the course of the last decade. Indonesia's success in building “democratic” institutions in just 10 years- at costo f Isomac traditions, is equally “remarkable”.

NATO led by the USA is creating terorims aornd the world to control the world nad its reosurces. Against the determination and wishes of the rulers, Islamist movements are indeed gaining strength, but the state forces crush their efforts to support Islamic law; the ruling classes consider their survival threatened by real Muslim resurgence groups and, therefore, unleash state terror on them and media as usual paint them as “terrorists”. This stubborn posture from the state has led to causing bloody clashes with Christians in Eastern Indonesia. Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America and an al Qaeda threat in Indonesia, including a bombing in Bali in October 2002. Against that background, it seems hard to believe how well Indonesia is doing today.

Where there is agitation for Islamic Shaira’, terrorism is invoked by the rulers to cub them with Muslims seeking to establish an Islamic society. Indonesian rulers did exactly that. Of late there has been resurgence of rise of Islamic groups seeking to rule the largest Muslim nation on the earth, but the ruling dispensations have cleverly branded them as “militant Islamic groups” have flexed their military muscles over the past few years threatening the existence any real voice for Muslim rule. As part of global phenomenon, some of them have even been accused of having links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, including the group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people. President Yudhoyono's popularity is based on his image as a “strong” leader who can keep Indonesia “safe” and political analysts do say that the bombings should not do too much damage to his “reputation” as long as he is able to prevent any further attacks. He does not want to lose power to Muslims.

 With a view to terrorizing the Islamic groups and the Muslims at large in the country, GSTs have unleashed terrorist attacks which the ruling dispensations placed on the Islamic movement leaders. The ruling machnery has placed all blockageds for the Islamc groups in the poll to make them appear a failure in the polls. Thus recent elections showed that there has been a decline in the influence of overtly Islamist parties which both ruling party and the western supporters plus media hawks consider the positive side of the poll.

V- Indonesia- An Awkward democracy?

Media bias against Islam and Islamization of Indonesia is not news now, but they support the president to continue the traditions carefully nurtured over decades in degrading Islamic tenets. But one can't be complacent about Indonesia's “democracy” future. The problems facing the country are enormous, poverty first among them. Corruption remains a deterrent to foreign investment. Rise of true Islamic fundamentalism si considered by the ruong leaders posing a threat to their existence as much as the GSTs fear the ooutcomes of thewir terror wars in Islamc world. The authorities have shown a disturbing passivity in the face of attacks on mosques of certain non-Islamic minority sects. The regime is searvchng more terroirsm ploys to crushs the Islamic movement probabvly with western terror help.

Indonesians have achieved this success largely on their own. But having chosen a path of freedom, “democracy”, and religious tolerance to the extreme to prefer non-Muslims as their peresidents they are prone ot criticism and even terror attacks once they come t their senses and reverswe anti-Islamic deformations in the soiciety and make a crediblde Muslim as their presdient or premier.

The U.S. has an enormous stake in Indonesia. It provides stability for the whole of Southeast Asia, a region of more than half a billion people. It is an example for other aspiring “democracies” in non-Islamic world. And if it continues to make progress on religious tolerance, it can point the way for other non-Muslim countries as well. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did recognize that fact on her visit in February. When President Obama visits in November he will receive a hero's welcome. Obama should use that to speak forcefully on behalf of the great majority of Indonesian Muslims who believe in real tolerance and true equality for all the country's citizens. Obama should address the lacune in the legal system of Indonesia on ignroing Muslms.

The only democracy in South Asia, India would never let Muslim get elected form a Hindu dominated locality, but they make Hindus win polls in Muslim dominated regions also. Hindus would rather commit mass suicides than letting a Muslim to be their representative any where. The reason for avoiding Muslims in judiciary (Supre court CJ, etc) and premiership etc, has to do with the petrified Hinudtva mindset of Indians, irrespective of their political lenience and color of party flags. India has reduced its opposition to Pakistan and Muslims, while all political outfits have converged into one Hindu interests’ crony. 

Western powers play with Islamic rulers and promote their own missionary work by projecting Islam as a terror religion. US-led Western powers represented by the UNSC and NATO are engineering plots to make Arab world into the Indonesian “democratic” mould by making Christians and others their constitutional leaders.. So far USA failed to make Saudi Arabia make a church for the occupying US terror forces to “worship” and later make inroads into Saudi establishment directly. Already Pakistan regime has been bullied to get a new church constructed for the occupying terror forces from the Western hemisphere.

Let all so-called democracies first practice what they have promoted in Indonesia in a sustained manner for decades before asking the Islamic and Arab world to emulate the Indonesian model for their civilizational survival in the face of threat posed to them by the anti-Islamic GSTs across the world, especially USA, NATO, Israel, India, etc. Or else, Indonesia should elect only Muslim leaders to rule them but with full sincerity. So far no Muslim nation has asked the world to follow their system or custom by the non-Islamic nations. How many non-Muslim nations have offered their top post of governance to a Muslim? Russia and China are killing Muslims in Muslim nations now under their rule. Former communist nations are anti-Islamic too. Russia kills Muslims in Chechnya and other Muslim dominated regions as much as China kills Muslims in the “New Territory” being occupied since 1949, immediately after India innocently annexed Jammu Kashmir and made it a state of India by making it Jammu & Kashmir signifying the religious division in that nation. Why can’t they make a Muslim their president, or surrender their sovereignties at once? Do they want USA or UK or France or Germany to first appoint a Muslim as their sovereign president?

Finally, the active campaigns for criminal “democracy” only means to defame Islam and Islamization moves any where in the world. US/NATO, followed by their nasty media hawks, reaches quickly to punish the so-called “Islamists” any where in the world. Islamic genocides and destructions both in Afghanistan and Pakistan are living commentary on this issue.  But Indonesia has a positive, historical role to play in Islamization of the global Muslim world on which anti-Islamic culture is being imposed by the Western powers and their media ably supported by the Eastern countries like India and Israel.

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Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

Independent Researcher in International Affairs,

The only Indian to have gone through entire India, a fraud and terror nation in South Asia.