Islam and the 2014 Indonesian Elections

Although Islamic parties were deemed to be on the decline in Indonesia, the parliamentary election in April has shown their resilience. This is especially so for the parties affiliated with the country’s two largest Islamic organisations, the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the reformist Muhammadiyah. Indeed, both the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) managed to mobilise respectively in NU and Muhammadiyah circles to establish themselves as mid-sized parties. They are now considered as key players in the coalition-building process led by front-runners of the upcoming presidential elections, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) from the Indonesian Democratic Struggle Party (PDIP) and Prabowo Subianto from the Gerindra Party.

Indeed, the probable Jokowi-Prabowo showdown seems more and more to be drawing a line between Islamic Traditionalists and Puritan-Reformists, with the former vying for PDIP (Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle) and the latter for Gerindra Party (Great Indonesian Movement Party). Could this signify the return of Aliran (‘streams’) politics in Indonesia? Do these alliances reflect contesting views on the role of Islam in public life? Will the state’s secularist foundations and religious pluralism risk being challenged? To answer these essential questions, this seminar will host two Indonesian scholars -- Dr. Ahmad Najib Burhani (LIPI - Indonesian Institute of Sciences) and Dr. Sumanto Al Qurtuby (University of Notre Dame in Indiana). They will provide insights on the latest developments on the national political scene and the internal dynamics within the Traditionalist and Puritan-Reformist currents in this crucial period for Indonesia.

http://www.iseas.edu.sg/ISEAS/upload/files/Seminar%20Notice%282%29.pdf

The Reformasi '98 and the Arab Spring: A Comparative Study of Popular Uprisings in Indonesia and Tunisia

Asian Politics & Policy
Volume 6, Issue 2, pages 199–215, April 2014

Ahmad Najib Burhani†

Abstract

By comparing popular uprisings in Indonesia and Tunisia, this article intends to answer the questions: What kind of condition made the Islamists successfully take over the state in Tunisia, while they failed to do so in Indonesia? What are the similarities and differences between the uprisings in these two countries? This article argues that the historical and sociopolitical position of Islamists during the authoritarian regimes determined the fate of Islamist parties after the uprisings. The role of Ennahda party as a symbol of opposition has contributed to its rise after the Tunisian Spring, while the involvement of Islamists in the regime during the last years of Suharto's rule contributed to the decline of Islamist parties in Indonesia. However, the strongest argument for the decline of Islamist parties in Indonesia is the fading away of political streams. Furthermore, the role of Muslim scholars in desacralizing Islamist parties in Indonesia has significantly challenged and undermined the identification of Islam with Islamist parties.

Keywords: Ennahda party; political Islam; politik aliran; Rachid Ghannouchi; secularism

†Ahmad Najib Burhani is a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta. He received his PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California-Santa Barbara, USA. His academic interests include “minority religions in Islam,” “Islamic movements in Southeast Asia,” and “cosmopolitan sufism.”

Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aspp.12113/abstract