Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

unit headed by General Prabowo, Suharto’s then
son-in-law, came as no surprise.
Today though, the political atmosphere is a stark
contrast; to borrow an economic term, one of almost
perfect competition. For instance, in the first free
post-New Order elections a process of weeding out of
political parties from participating in the 1999 general
elections became necessary because of the sheer numbers
alone. There were at the time well over a hundred
registered political parties aspiring for power, which
simply means that there were few obstacles, if any, to
their registration in the first place. The final count: 48
parties in all were deemed suitable to contest the 462
parliamentary seats up for grabs in a 500 seat national
parliament, with the military holding 32 uncontested
seats, a legacy of the New Order regime. And that
Reformasi did indeed impact on the nation’s politics
is clearly witnessed in the abolishing of the TNI
parliamentary seats achieved during the presidency
of Abdurrahman Wahid whose term in office was cut
short when he was impeached in favor of his deputy,
Megawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia’s
first president.
It was this euphoric atmosphere of democratic freedoms,
cultivated under interim president B J Habibie, which
made possible the mushrooming of Islamic political
parties. In the elections of 7 June 1999, 19 of the 48
parties “either described themselves as Islamic or base
their ideologies on Islam”. 18 Obviously the Islamists
must have thought that decades of global Islamic
resurgence would make possible some kind of an Islamic
government, but their lack of unity combined with the
durability of secular nationalism proved too much even
for a population that appeared, to all intents and purposes,
to be gradually Islamizing, as observed in The Jakarta
Post by Hisanori Kato of the Sakai International
Interchange Association.
People who lived in Jakarta 15 years ago and visit the
city again now will notice that there are many more
Indonesian women wearing the Muslim headscarf, of
jilbab….
And a very conservative Islamic-based political party,
the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), garnered the most
votes in Jakarta in last year’s election.
One might wonder whether these phenomena and
events signal an emergence of Islamic power in the
country. Although careful observation and discussion
about each occurrence is necessary to properly answer
that, it is plausible to affirm that Islamic conservatism
has found its place in Indonesia. 19
ENGAGING MODERNITY: RELIGION, GENDER, AND ART 71
POLITICAL ISLAM: PARTAI KEADILAN
SEJAHTERA (PKS)
By the legislative elections of 5 April 2005 all that
remained of the parties categorized as Islamic, that is,
those professing Islam as their official ideology were
five. 20 They were The United Development Party (PPP),
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), The Crescent Star
Party (PBB), The Reform Star Party (PBR) and the
Indonesian Nahdlatul Community Party (PPNUI).
Interestingly, parties such as The National Awakening
Party (PKB), formed and led by the NU leadership, and
The National Mandate Party (PAN), formed by the
leadership of Muhammadiyah, listed their ideology as
the Pancasila, the national ideology, doubtless to make
an across-the-board impression with voters. The reason
for this is obvious: non-Muslims do play a pivotal role
in ensuring what kind of political Islam is acceptable
as a mass based political party with participation in the
country’s governance. For example, the politician most
perceived as friendly to non-Muslim interests is Gus
Dur. His policies while president appears to substantiate
this belief.
More importantly, though, is the importance of the
so-called abangan, the nominal Muslims 21 in determining
the ideological mosaic of the Indonesian polity.
Unimpressed by calls for Islamization, they are wooed
by certain quarters of political Islam even at the apparent
expense of ideological purity; the prime example being
PKS (see introduction). This though is not necessarily
a bad thing. After all, responding to the inclinations of
the electorate is a legitimate party strategy in the pursuit of
power. But, many fear the consequence of triumphant
PKS. Nong Darol of JIL, for example, is not comfortable
with a possible PKS victory. In her view the party’s
pragmatism is too convenient and that at the point of
victory the party will revert to its original objective of
implementing the Shariah. The PKS, she feels, has a
hidden agenda and that agenda is seen as threatening
because the party subscribes to a conservative interpretation
of Islam.
On the other hand, experts on Indonesian Islam like
Dr. Robin Bush, Director of Asia Foundation’s Islam
and Civil Society programme in Jakarta is almost confident
that the party’s leadership will remain pragmatic
in the face of electoral victory.
“PKS is fascinating…I think they are the future of
Indonesia. They say that by 2012 they think that they
will attain the presidency. Whether they do or not,
I think they will be an increasing political force in
Indonesia. The question on everybody’s mind is what
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows