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Indonesia between ideology and Islam: how the military can solve the conflict in society

Indonesia between ideology and Islam: how the military can solve the conflict in society

The author of the Telegram channel “Lu Man: Looking East" talks about the protests in Indonesia, caused by a deep split in society into progressives and Muslim conservatives, an attempt by the ruling circles to return the secular ideology and rewrite the Constitution, and how in this situation the military can be the winners, who used the fight against COVID-19 to strengthen their positions.

AT 2019 two waves of public protest swept through Indonesia last year, resulted in pogroms and murders. The first was related to the dissatisfaction of the conservative part of the Indonesian society with the results of the presidential elections held in April., on which their candidate Prabowo Subianto yielded to the more liberal Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi. The second wave, a few months later, was the reaction of already pro-democratic youth to an attempt by the authorities to tighten moral standards by law in order to please clerical leaders., who helped Jokowi win in the spring.

The largest Muslim country in the world was split into two roughly equal groups: one thinks, that the unity of the nation is ensured by political principles, approved by people of different religions and cultures; for the other, unity lies in the exclusive adherence of the majority to one ethno-religious idea.

The public policy of the last twenty years has been aimed at the democratization of Indonesian society after decades of dictatorship. Suharto, but in parallel, conservative Islamic teachings and structures developed and strengthened, who soon declared political ambitions.

Elections and support for Muslims

For the first time, the contradiction between conservative and progressive circles was openly outlined in 2016 year during the election campaign for the post of governor of Jakarta, who at the time was Basuki Chahaya Purnama, known as Lime, Chinese Christian and henchman of President Jokowi. At one of the speeches, Ahok quoted the Koran, which angered some clerics and Muslim leaders, who accused him of insulting Islam. Thousands of Muslim rallies, in which the Front for the Defenders of Islam played a key role, led to Basuka's electoral defeat and subsequent two-year prison sentence for sacrilege.

Considering the sad experience of the governor of Jakarta, in preparation for the presidential election 2019 Joko Widodo took proactive steps, to prevent the so-called "Islamic card" being played against him, and chose as a partner Maarufa Amina, leader of the Islamic public organization "Nakhdlatul Ulama" (NOT) and Chairman of the Ulema Council of Indonesia (MUI), who as a result received the position of Vice President.

Created in 1926 Nahdlatul Ulama is the largest Islamic organization in the world—Indonesia alone has over 50 million followers, known as "NU citizens" or nahdlins. NU represents a traditional school and aims to protect religious practices from modernism and reformism. Its competitor is considered "Muhammadiya", the second largest Islamic organization in the country, modernist orientation. Initially, Nahdlatul Ulama was a purely social structure, dealing with social issues, but soon entered politics, including as one of the leading parties.

Religious leaders (ulema) played an important role in promoting the nahdlin, who became part of the national elite. Patronage networks bolstered political support for NU, which allowed its leader Abdurrahmanu Vahidu at 1999 year to become President of Indonesia, although he never played a key role in the politics of the country. Now the interests of Nahdlatul Ulama are represented in parliament by its National Awakening Party (PKB), which takes an average of about 50 seats are invariably included in all ruling coalitions.

As a "payment" for a decisive contribution to victory in the presidential election 2019 of the year Maarufa Amina, which represents the conservative wing of NU, the current authorities hastened to put forward a number of highly controversial bills for consideration, including the updated Criminal Code, which included, in particular, criminalization of adultery and extramarital consensual sex, jail time for abortion, criminalization of homosexuality, as well as tougher penalties for blasphemy. All this caused a wave of protests by democratically minded youth across the country., which escalated into pogroms and riots, like the conservative Muslim rallies a few months earlier.

Deradicalization of the state apparatus

The haste and thoughtlessness of such cardinal changes soon became clear - they wanted to introduce amendments to the legislation before the inauguration of Joko Vidido and the introduction of a new cabinet in October, whose structure showed, that "Nahdlatul Ulama" received much less influence, than expected, having lost control even over "their" Ministry of Religious Affairs, which was headed by a former general Fakhrul Razi. The ministry is not only responsible for religious education policy, but also for the distribution of funds for Islamic boarding schools, mostly run by NU. Mohammad Mahfud, promoted to Coordinating Minister for Policy, law and security, is a representative of the more moderate faction "Nahdlatul Ulama". In addition, members of the rival Muhammadiyah became presidential advisers..

The restriction of access to power resources for Islamic circles is explained by the fight against radicalism in state institutions that unfolded after the elections, under which the government introduced stricter background checks and a new psychological test to assess officials' political beliefs, especially those, who wants to get promoted. Relevant inspections were held in major ministries and some state-owned enterprises, as well as in two state-owned media companies.

According to the survey, held in 2017 by Alvara Research Center, every fifth civil servant and 10% employees of state-owned enterprises do not agree with the current secular ideology of Pancasila and are inclined towards the ideas of building an Islamic theocratic state in Indonesia.

In November 2019 decree from year to year, according to which civil servants are prohibited from expressing opinions on social networks as a verbal, as well as in writing, containing hate speech against the government, state ideology Pancasila, of the Constitution and the national motto "Unity in Diversity", including sharing, Like and comment on posts with similar content, and participate or attend events, where such statements are possible.

The penetration of conservative Muslims into leadership positions was a direct consequence of the inclusion of active Islamic figures in the state elite., which at a certain stage allowed to keep them under control, while encouraging competition between various Muslim organizations and their factions. At the same time, this approach led to the creation of alliances between high-ranking political figures and clerics, as in the national, as well as at the local level. Conservative groups were especially successful in this., eventually built connections with politicians, civil servants and security personnel.

For example, the extremely conservative "Defenders of Islam Front" (REIT), who took an active part in mass rallies against Ahok in 2016 year and protests in May 2019 of the year, has been building patronage networks with high-ranking officials since its founding in the early 2000s. Former Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian Army, Minister of Defense, and then Coordinating Minister for Policy, law and security Wiranto and Jakarta Police Chief Gen. Nugroho Jayusman were considered the main patrons of the organization in the early years of its existence. Contacts among the leadership of the army and police, It is believed, allowed its leader to escape persecution, Sunni Sufi Muslim politician of Arab descent, Muhammad Riziku Shikhabu, known as Khabib Rizik, who currently resides in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since in Indonesia several cases have been opened against him.

Revival of Pancasila

To curb the Islamization of society, the government began to revive the state ideology of Pancasila, formulated in 1945 year as the country's first president Sukarno in an attempt to try on secular nationalists and supporters of the creation of an Islamic state1, but then turned into an anti-communist doctrine. Over the past two decades, Panchasla, seen by many as a legacy of the Suharto dictatorship, actually lost its leading position in society, resulting in an ideological vacuum, which began to fill various Islamic concepts and currents.

A Bill on the Guiding Principles of the Pancasila Ideology is now under consideration. (RUU HIP), which aims to strengthen the position of the Pancasla Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), created during the first presidential term of Joko Widodo.

All major Islamic public organizations have already come out with sharp criticism of the government's actions., including the influential "Ulema Council of Indonesia", which includes "Muhammadiyya" and "Nahdlatul Ulama", as well as the "Front of Defenders of Islam", who believe, that the adoption of the bill is carried out secretly, without any public debate, when public attention is diverted by the fight against coronavirus. Muslim circles claim, that they are ready to organize larger protests, than in 2016 year against Ahok. In June, the first demonstrations were held in some cities in Indonesia., including Jakarta, Solo (Surakarta) and Yogyakarta.

It is worth noting, that the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency is headed by one of the most influential figures in Indonesian politics, Megawatts of Sukarnoputra, daughter of the founder of modern Indonesia, Sukarno. According to some reports, it was she who drew attention to the young and promising governor of the city of Solo Joko Widodo, who later became president. Megawati also played a key role in bringing Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto together over the summer. 2019 year and contributed to the appointment of the latter as Minister of Defense in the new cabinet of Jokowi.

Next elections and amendments to the Constitution

Among various Muslim groups, dissatisfaction with the policies of the authorities and their own leaders continues to grow.. Young Islamic activists with more conservative views are gaining popularity, educated in the Middle East, some of which adjoins the "Front of Defenders of Islam".

The situation is held back by disunity within and between Islamic groups and the still competent game on their contradictions by the ruling class., but, as shown by the last presidential elections, part of the elite, aware of the growing power and influence of Muslim circles, is increasingly ready to make situational alliances with conservatives, to gain their support and attract more supporters.

One of those, who is most likely to take advantage of Islamic structures in their political interests is Anis Rashid Baswedan, who, thanks to them, has already received the post of governor of Jakarta in 2017 year and does not hide his ambitions for the presidency in 2024 year. At the same time, Anis is already opposing himself to Joko Widodo, eg, making decisions to combat COVID-19 in the Capital Region, that run counter to central government measures.

meanwhile, strong polarization of society, which 2019 year resulted in demonstrations and pogroms, arranged by both parties, raised the issue of amending the Constitution, what could put an end to the practice of electing the president directly by the people.

People's Representative Council draws up plan to amend basic law, to partially restore the powers of the People's Consultative Congress, which to 2002 elected the president. The proposed changes are not so radical yet., but nevertheless will significantly limit the power of the first person. In the future, the option of refusing direct elections is not ruled out., that, according to a significant part of the political elite, brought more inconvenience, than benefits and caused widespread controversy among Indonesians.

The main initiator of amendments to the Constitution is the largest ruling Democratic Party of Indonesia (struggling) (PDI-P), which is headed by the already mentioned Megawati Sukarnoputri. In August last year, at the party congress, she was instructed to return the system, under which the President of the country will answer to the People's Consultative Congress.

Rejection of direct presidential elections will allow different ruling groups to decide, who will be the next leader, making backroom deals and not taking their contradictions to the streets, but will cut off the bulk of the country's population from direct participation in the electoral process.

Military and COVID-19

The attitude of the state towards Islamic organizations, strengthening the ideology of Pancasila, as well as attempts to amend the Constitution, many observers are increasingly drawing some parallels with the period of General Suharto's rule. (1965— 1998), whose characteristic feature was the doctrine of "double function" (dual function), allowing the armed forces to combine socio-political and military duties proper.

The expansion of the powers of the military began under the previous president Susilo Bambange Yudhoyono, which allowed the appointment of acting officers in 10 civil agencies and ministries, in an attempt to solve the problem of their employment in this way. At present, approximately 150 generals and 500 colonels are still out of work, corresponding to their rank and qualifications. Jokowi created a personal network of trusted officers, who worked with him from the very beginning of his political career and were involved in the government of the country.

But the most noticeable increase in the military came in the fight against coronavirus..

Although the army as a whole was not fully mobilized for civilian policy, but at the national level, about two dozen retired and active military men hold key government positions, some of which are directly related to making decisions to counter the epidemic. In particular, retired generals are the Minister of Health, Minister of Defense, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Minister of Religious Affairs, Head of the Presidential Administration and Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council. In addition, there are at least three retired generals and one serving colonel in the Ministry of Health..

National Task Force on COVID-19 Response, coordinating nationwide efforts to mitigate the pandemic, led by the former commander of the special forces of the army, lieutenant general Don Monardo. The task force's executive board also includes two senior generals.

Meanwhile, hundreds of officers have been appointed deputy chiefs of local task forces., created throughout Indonesia. Moreover, almost 85% of them are senior officers and hold the positions of commanders of military districts. In this way, territorial structure of the army (along with police units and commanders) provides a core support system for local governments.

While the army only helps the government to implement the chosen policy, but does not define it on its own. It is not clear, but, how long will this partial militarization of the country last. If the efforts of the authorities to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic prove insufficient, as well as in the event of serious economic instability or internal political conflict between progressives and conservative Muslims, military, likely, will be given grounds to take on more responsibility to the cheers of a significant part of Indonesian society.

1 Organization banned in Russia.

Author: The editors of the Telegram channel "Lu Man: A look to the East»

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