Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Despite the waning popularity of Islam-based political parties, presidential candidates and their running mates have continued to stress their religious values and openly court the religious vote.

Religion has never been far from the forefront of debate ahead of July's presidential election and has created tensions even within the coalition of parties forged by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, including the well-publicized reservations expressed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which objected to Yudhoyono's running mate on the grounds that he wasn't religious enough.

However, the real reason for the coalition's opposition to Boediono may lie in the fact that Yudhoyono chose a technocrat free of political baggage, rather than a lawmaker from one of the coalition partners.

Yudhoyono has traditionally been seen as the most Islamic of the three presidential candidates and has the backing of all the major religious parties, making regular appearances at religious events and establishing the Islamic prayer group, SBY Nurussalam, which has branches across the country.

In an apparent bid to overcome reservations by some in the religious community and to prove his piety, Boediono on Sunday visited the Lirboyo Islamic school in Kediri, East Java, and received support from cleric Idris Marzuki, who heads the school.

Jusuf Kalla and running mate Wiranto also recently visited another influential Islamic school in East Java and held a dialogue with the school's leaders.

Kalla, a member of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization, has also been active in visiting and giving donations to Islamic schools.

Megawati Sukarnoputri and her running mate, Prabowo Subianto, have followed suit. Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has set up a party wing, Baitul Muslimin Indonesia, to target the Muslim vote, while Prabowo has been active in visiting Islamic schools and leaders since the legislative election campaign.

Ahmad Bakir Ihsan, an Islamic political expert at Jakarta State Islamic University, said it was common practice in the country for presidential candidates to approach Islamic schools and clerics to get their support in elections.

"Clerics are opinion leaders, particularly for traditional Muslim voters in the regions," he said. "They will follow what the clerics say about the presidential candidates. For the presidential candidates, approaching Muslim clerics is considered a concrete measure, as the clerics have influence over their pupils, families and the Islamic schools' communities."