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Indonesia: Fears of an 'Islamic' push in foreign policy
Monday, 11 May 2009 15:55
A possible coalition of a major Islamic party and a leading nationalist party will not undermine Indonesia's secular foreign policy despite fears of an increasing pro-Islamic influence in foreign affairs, experts say.
The Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has wooed the Democratic Party, chaired by incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, into a coalition that will see them endorse a presidential and vice presidential candidate.
The Democratic Party, gaining a temporary share around 20.6 percent of votes in the April legislative elections, has endorsed Yudhoyono, known as SBY, to run for another term. The party said it would announce its vice presidential candidate next week, while PKS leader and chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid is tipped to become Yudhoyono's running mate. The PKS is expected to secure around 8 percent of the vote.
Rizal Sukma, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said a significant shift in foreign policy if Yudhoyono picked a PKS candidate was unlikely, as Islamic parties only exercised pro religious views on limited and specific issues.
"Islamic parties advocate pro-Islam views on issues involving Palestine, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran...as Islamic groups like to express their co-religionist solidarity," he said.
"In general, Indonesia will focus on national interests. The notion that Indonesia may intensify its relations with Arab countries once the PKS becomes part of the government is unrealistic. Besides, there is no precedence for this," said Rizal.
Indonesia has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause on the basis of the respect of sovereignty, not religious sentiment. However, considering that Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world, the government has remained cautious on a number of thorny Middle East issues, including Iran developing nuclear weapons and US fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Azyumardi Azra, a history professor at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, said concern had arisen that the PKS would try to influence Indonesia's current Middle East policy if it managed to win a significant position in the government.
"The PKS support for Palestine is based on Islamic solidarity, but it must be noted their support is only directed at a particular hard-core group known as Hamas, not to all Muslims," Azyumardi said.
"Indonesian foreign policy is based on the *free and active' principle. The PKS partnership with SBY opens up the potential for change in Indonesian foreign policy," he said.
Hashim Djalal, a senior diplomat, shrugged off the fear, saying a shift was not imminent as religious factors had failed to dominate Indonesia's foreign policy.
"Our foreign policy is directed at promoting regional peace, stability, social economic growth and... democratization and human rights. Our foreign policy is not dictated by Islamic factors," he said.
Despite its Muslim majority population, nationalist rather than Islamist principles have thus far defined Indonesia's domestic policy. Religious freedom and the rights of minorities are enshrined in the 1945 Constitution.
Achmad Jainuri, a rector at Muhammadiyah University in Sidoarjo, East Java, said the possibility of a shift in foreign policy was slim as the PKS leader would stand as a second man in the government if he was picked by SBY.
"A vice president will handle domestic problems... it is the president who has control. And we know President SBY leans more toward the United States than toward Arab countries," he said.
In its party platform published in 2008, the PKS said it would support Indonesia's "neutral" foreign policy stance as enshrined in the 1945 Constitution. It said foreign policy priorities would focus on the development of the Southeast Asian regional cooperation, as well as East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Economic development will form the basis of Indonesian foreign policy, the document said.
"It is an exaggeration to suggest the PKS poses a threat to Indonesia's current foreign policy on the basis that Islamic parties lean heavily toward the Arab world," Zulkieflimansyah, a lawmaker from the PKS, said Wednesday.
The PKS started out as a small party, drawing inspiration from Egypt's banned Islamist party, the Muslim Brotherhood. It has achieved success by focusing on anticorruption and earning grass-roots support. It won 7.3 percent of the vote in the 2004 general elections.
The Jakarta Post
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