Indonesia's
presidential elections
and the move to democracy
in the Islamic world
By
Jonathan
Power
TFF Associate
since 1991
September 15,
2004
LONDON - The two big wings of Islam
-Turkey in the West and Indonesia in the East - are
reforming and changing at a lightening pace, confounding
those who only measure Islam by its seemingly stagnant
middle ground. Next week Indonesia goes to the polls for
its final round in a presidential election that so far
has been largely free, courteous and non-violent. Turkey
continues with reforms that began in Ataturk's day in the
1920s but which have recently accelerated under its
relatively new Islamist government that is determined to
meet all the criteria for entry demanded by the European
Union.
In fact the
countries that contain the largest numbers of Muslims-
Turkey (70 million), Indonesia (240m), Bangladesh (114m)
and India (121m)- are all liberal minded and democratic.
All have populations that overwhelmingly reject the
terrorist jihad. All prefer their women uncovered. All
find the rigidity of Islamic belief as exhibited in the
many smaller countries of the Middle East as both archaic
and uninformed theologically. For them it is the ballot
not the bullet that counts.
The Indonesian
election tells us a lot. It is only six years ago that
Indonesia overthrew its strongman, Suharto. Democracy did
not take root easily. The country was ripped apart by
separatist and religious violence. Two years' ago
terrorists with links to Al Qaeda set off a bomb in a
Bali nightclub killing 200 people. Even last week they
showed they were still around with their blast outside
the Australian embassy.
Most of Indonesia
is now peaceful. The terrorists have not gained traction,
indeed the reverse. Its president, Megawati Sukarnoputri,
now fighting against a former general for re-election,
may be no great administrator or visionary but under her
the country has found both a sense of peace and a return
to economic progress.
If one is of a mind
one can paint Islam as the sire of most contemporary
wars, as the repository of economic backwardness and as
antipathetic to democracy. But a more truthful picture is
quite different. When there are elections in Muslim
countries voters for the most part- even in Pakistan-
reject parties that sympathize with the extremists.
Countries, like Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan
which have convinced themselves that elections will bring
to power radical Islamists overlook what seems to happen
in an open electoral arena- the softening of the edges
and the strengthening of the moderates. They are not
Weimar republics about to elect extremists.
Turkey is the best
example of this process. For decades the military
establishment, which believes it has a sacred duty to
preserve the secular precepts of Ataturk, opposed the
very idea of the coming to power of an Islamist
government. When one was finally elected, as part of a
coalition in 1996, it didn't take the generals long to
force it to step down. Yet all the while Turkey's
electorate has been modernizing its outlook. As it has
become more educated, as women have taken more important
jobs, including the premiership, as the interaction with
Europe has become more intense, as the media has become
more open, the electorate decided to face the generals
down and elect in 2002 a modern Islamist government, one
that was avidly pro Europe and also, even more important,
that was dead set against the corruption of the anciens
regimes. To outsiders it may seem something of a
contradiction that a vote based on these two concerns
should be pro Islamist. But this is because outsiders
have an idée fixe about Islam. They overlook the
reformation that is well under way in its most populous
and best-educated countries. Being Islamist can mean
being modern whilst eschewing corruption and cheap
sensuality. Rationally speaking, by the criteria of any
religion, the over-sexualisation of Western culture is
hard to defend. We shouldn't pause to wonder why earnest
young girls are drawn towards the headscarf.
The West has
overreacted by protesting so loudly about the bill now
before the Turkish parliament to outlaw adultery. Apart
from the fact it is unlikely to pass, it is very much a
reaction against a still pervasive macho culture that
allows men to get away with everything whilst women,
especially in the countryside, can be shunned for the
rest of their lives if caught out in an extramarital
relationship. The important thing about Turkey is that
these sensitive issues are now out in the open to be
debated passionately.
Next Monday the
most populous state in the Islamic world will remind us
that democracy is alive and strong among Muslims. There
really is no sign that the Islamists will exploit freedom
to impose a loss of freedom. Muslims desire democracy for
the same reason the West does - the chance, if they want,
to throw the rascals out.
Copyright ©
2004 By JONATHAN POWER
I can be
reached by phone +44 7785 351172 and e-mail:
JonatPower@aol.com
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