Indonesia: Conservative Islamic Group Says Muslims Cannot Vote For Non-Muslims
By UCA News
Muslims are not allowed to vote for non-Muslims in upcoming elections said a decree issued by a group of senior politicians and conservative Islamic groups who met at a mosque in Jakarta on Sept. 18.
The decree forbidding Muslims voting for a ‘non-believer’ was made ahead of next year’s gubernatorial (governor) elections and is being seen as a way to counter the re-election hopes of current governor of Jakarta, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is a Christian, and ethnic Chinese Indonesian.
Political analyst and pollster Djayadi Hanan, told The Australian that Indonesia is currently fertile ground for identity politics.
“Ahok is a double minority — he is ethnically Chinese and he is a non-Muslim, and people can be rallied around those issues,” Hanan said.
“According to our surveys, around 45 percent of Jakarta’s Muslims agree Muslims should not be led by non-Muslims,” he said.
More than 80 percent of Jakarta’s voters are Muslims, said the report which added that the decree was spurned by Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah.
