RELIGION AS A POLITICAL TOOL: Secular and Islamist Roles in Indonesian Elections

Luthfi Assyaukanie

Abstract


This article analyses the use of religion in Indonesian elections. It fundamentally argues that religion has been utilized by both secular and religious politicians to boost their electoral gain. Focusing on national and local elections in the past five years of Indonesian politics, this study suggests that religion is a significant instrument in the electoral decision-making process, both from the perspective of voters and candidates. Much of the data in writing this article derive from my current research project funded by the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education. Other data come from leading survey institutes, particularly Lembaga Survey Indonesia (LSI), Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) and Indikator Politik Indonesia.

Keywords


Election; democracy; political Islam; intolerance; Indonesia

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alfian. Islamic Modernism in Indonesian Politics: The Muhammadijah Movement During the Dutch Colonial Period (1912-1942). Ann Arbor, Mich. u.a: Univ. Microfilms Internat, 1984.

Almond Gabriel A., and Sidney Verba. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. California: Sage Publication, 1989.

Aspinall, Edward. “Indonesia’s Election and the Return of Ideological Competition”. New Mandala, April 22, 2019.

Assyaukanie, Luthfi. Islam and the Secular State in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS, 2009.

Assyaukanie, Luthfi. “Unholy Alliance: Ultra-Conservatism and Political Pragmatism in Indonesia”. Thinking Asean, 19 (January 2017).

Boland, BJ. The Struggle of Islam in Modern Indonesia. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1971.

Burhani, Ahmad Najib. “Ma’ruf Factor in Jokowi’s Re-election Success”. The Jakarta Post. May 9, 2019.

Fachrudin, Azis Anwar. “Ma’ruf and NU Factor”. May 18, 2019

Maulana, Zain. “Ma’ruf Factor and Indonesia’s Democracy”. The Jakarta Post. May 24, 2019.

Hilmy, Masdar. Islamism and Democracy in Indonesia: Piety and Pragmatism. Singapore: ISEAS, 2010.

Kuipers, Nick. “Who’s Running on Islam in Indonesia?”. New Mandala. accessed on 19 August 2019.

Künkler, Mirjam and Alfred Stepan. Democracy and Islam in Indonesia. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 2013.

Mietzner, Marcus, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, and Rizka Halida. “Entrepreneurs of Grievance: Drivers and Effects of Indonesia’s Islamist Mobilization”. Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde 174 (January 1, 2018): 159–87.

Mujani , Saiful. Muslim demokrat: Islam, Budaya Demokrasi, dan Partisipasi Politik di Indonesia Pasca Orde Baru. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2007.

Nandy, Ashis. “The Return of the Sacred: The Language of Religion and the Fear of Democracy in a Post-Secular World”. The Mahesh Chandra Regmi Lecture, Kathmandu: Publisher for Social Science, 2007.

Noer, Deliar. The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia, 1900-1942. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973.

Noer, Deliar. Administration of Islam in Indonesia. Singapore: Equinox Publishing, 2010.

Osman, Mohamed Nawab Mohamed and Prashant Waikar. “Fear and Loathing: Uncivil Islamism and Indonesia’s Anti-Ahok Movement”. Indonesia, 106 (2018): 89–109.

Osman, Mohamed Nawab Mohamed. Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Political Islam: Identity, Ideology and Religio-Political Mobilization. New York: Routledge, 2018.

Syailendra, Emirza Adi. “2017 Jakarta’s Election and Participatory Politics - What’s Gone Wrong with Indonesia’s Democracy?”. RSIS Commentaries 105 (May 26, 2017).

Wildan, Muhammad. “Islamism and Democratization in the Post 411 and 212 Rallies of Indonesia”. Thinking Asean, 19 (January 2017).

Survey and Exit Poll

SMRC. “Survei Nasional.” 24-31 Januari 2019.

SMRC. “Calon Wakil Presiden: Penilaian Elite, Opinion Leader, dan Massa Pemilih Nasional." May 2018.

Indikator Politik Indonesia. “Exit Poll Pemilu 2019,” 17 April 2019.

Indikator Politik Indonesia. “Dinamika Elektoral Jelang Pemilu 2019 dan Arah Dukungan Swing Voters dan Undecided Voters." 22-29 March 2019.

Lembaga Survei Indonesia. “Tren Persepsi Publik tentang Demokrasi, Korupsi, dan Intoleransi." 1-7 August 2018.

Newspapers and Magazines

“Allan Nairn Rilis Skenario Prabowo Lemahkan HTI dan PKS di Blognya,” https://tirto.id/allan-nairn-rilis-skenario-prabowo-lemahkan-hti-dan-pks-di-blognya-dmaS accessed on 14 July 2019.

“Bawaslu Anggap Gerakan #2019GantiPresiden Bukan Kampanye Hitam,” https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2018/04/10/19161191/bawaslu-anggap-gerakan-2019gantipresiden-bukan-kampanye-hitam accessed on 11 July 2019

“Cara Gatot Nurmantyo Cari Panggung Sebelum Pensiun,” https://tirto.id/cara-gatot-nurmantyo-cari-panggung-sebelum-pensiun-cxsW. Accessed on July 14, 2019.

“Desak Ahok Diproses Hukum, SBY Dianggap Intervensi” https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2016/11/03/05300031/desak.ahok.diproses.hukum.sby.dianggap.intervensi.?page=all accessed on 24 July 2019

“Diganti, Anies Baswedan Dinilai Sedikit Melenceng Dari Visi Presiden,” https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2016/08/06/-19-320281/diganti.anies.baswedan.dinilai.sedikit.melenceng.dari.visi.presiden accessed on 14 July 2019.

“GNPF MUI to Launch Rally on April 28 over Blasphemy Case,” https://en.tempo.co/read/869322/gnpf-mui-to-launch-rally-on-april-28-over-blasphemy-case accessed on 13 July 2019.

“Pengamat: Tagar #2019GantiPresiden Agitasi Dan Propaganda Politik,” https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1077051/pengamat-tagar-2019gantipresiden-agitasi-dan-propaganda-politik accessed on 11 July 2019.

“PKB: Hashtag Ganti Presiden Pernah Dipakai Di Suriah Dan Buat Kacau,” https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4186706/pkb-hashtag-ganti-presiden-pernah-dipakai-di-suriah-dan-buat-kacau accessed on 11 July 2019.

“PKB: Suriah Kacau Karena Pakai Hashtag Ganti Presiden,” https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/pkb-suriah-kacau-karena-pakai-hashtag-ganti-presiden-1535454204015492319 accessed on 11 July 2019

“PKS Dukung Soeharto Pahlawan Nasional,” https://www.antaranews.com/berita/230059/pks-dukung-soeharto-pahlawan-nasional accessed on 11 July 2019.

“PKS Dukung Soeharto Raih Gelar Pahlawan Nasional,” https://nasional.republika.co.id/berita/breaking-news/nasional/10/10/25/142236-pks-dukung-soeharto-raih-gelar-pahlawan-nasional accessed on 11 July 2019

“SBY Kritik Kampanye Akbar Prabowo, BPN: Bukan Politik Identitas,” https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1193649/sby-kritik-kampanye-akbar-prabowo-bpn-bukan-politik-identitas accessed on 25 July 2019.

“SBY Lantang Minta Ahok Harus Diproses Hukum” https://www.-merdeka.com/politik/sby-lantang-minta-ahok-harus-diproses-hukum.html accessed on 24 July 2019.

Interviews and Conversations

Abdul Rahim, Chairman of PKS, Medan, 19 Juli 2019.

Dr. Hamim Ilyas, Chairman of Muhammadiyah, Yogyakarta, 24 Juli 2019.

Firman Manan, Lecturer at Padjajaran University, Bandung, 12 July 2019.

Raja Juli Anthony, Chairman of PSI, Jakarta, 17 April 2019.

Rizal Mallarangeng, Chairman of Golkar, Jakarta, 14 May 2019.

Rumadi Amad, Head of NU think tank, Jakarta, 9 July 2019.




DOI: 10.15642/JIIS.2019.13.2.454-479

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Indexed by:

    

Creative Commons License

View My Stats

Journal of Indonesian Islam (ISSN 1978-6301 and E-ISSN 2355-6994) is published by the Postgraduate Program (PPs) and the Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (LSAS), State Islamic University (UIN) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Journal of Indonesian Islam by http://jiis.uinsby.ac.id/index.php/JIIs/index is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright ©2020 State Islamic University (UIN) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Powered by Public Knowledge Project OJS.