Jakarta – The Democratic Party (PD) has criticized other parties contesting the upcoming presidential race for allegedly exploiting Islam for political gain.
All election participants should respect the dignity of religious values during their political campaigns, said the deputy chairman of PD, the party founded by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2004.
"We kindly ask for all participants, including our own allies, to fully respect the value of religion because exploiting them for short-term political gain will not only endanger the dignity of religion itself, but also the pluralistic character of our nation," PD deputy chairman Anas Urbaningrum told a press conference Friday.
Recently, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), aligned with the PD's coalition, claimed its conservative Muslim voters could be deterred from casting a ballot for the SBY-Boediono ticket because their wives were rarely seen wearing the traditional Muslim headdress, known as the jilbab, in public. The Islamic PKS said a recent internal survey had confirmed this claim.
PKS deputy secretary general Zulkieflimansyah said his party's grassroots voters might prefer supporting Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto, nominated by the Golkar Party, because their wives regularly wear the jilbab in public.
A recently published book titled, "Istri Shalihah Pasangan Pemimpin Masa Depan" (Devoted Wives of Future Leaders) depicts the wives of Kalla and Wiranto wearing the jilbab on its front cover.
PD secretary general Marzuki Ali said the jilbab issue was settled during a recent talk with PKS president Tifatul Sembiring.
"I have contacted him and there is no problem. The issue was simply another internal matter for the party and we have no right to directly interfere. But as leaders we are morally obliged to communicate with each other for the sake of the coalition," he said.
Asked to comment on the PD call for a halt to "exploiting religion", Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political expert Burhanuddin Muhtadi said the party had overreacted to the matter.
"I think PD is overreacting to the matter. Our society is smart enough to judge which candidates are exploiting values to their own advantage and which are not," he told The Jakarta Post.
Religious issues traditionally pop up during elections, Burhanuddin said, causing debate.
"However, history has provided enough evidence to show that such an issue is not significant enough to influence voters' preference. For example, MUI (the Indonesia Ulema Council) told the country's Muslim population not to vote for Megawati Soekarnoputri, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in 1999 because she was a woman and most of her party legislators were non-Muslim. She still won the general elections," he said.
"There were also rumors about SBY's wife being a Christian in 2004, but as we all know, her husband managed to become the President," he added. Speculation surrounding the religion of SBY's wife was sparked due to her name, Kristiani.
However, Anas Urbaningrum denied the PD reaction was designed to respond to one certain issue. "Our only wish is to uphold the value of religion together with our allies and our competitors as well. This statement has nothing to do with voter's preference or anything else," he said. (hdt)