Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The imposition of sharia-based bylaws is a political maneuver designed by aspiring regional heads who want to garner votes, politicians from the country's biggest political parties agreed.
"It's just politics. That's why it is difficult [to control]. It all comes down to gaining the support of locals," Golkar's Rully Chairul Azwar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
In regional elections there will always be conflicts of interests between candidates' ambitions to win and the ideology of the parties that support them, he added.
"Golkar opposes laws that discriminate against minorities and hurt the nation's pluralism principle and its Pancasila ideology," Rully said, adding that discriminative bylaws would disintegrate the nation.
"Golkar cannot deny the fact that autonomy has given the regions the freedom to regulate themselves. What can we say if all the people in a region agree to the imposition [of bylaws]?" the senior politician added.
Several regional heads who imposed sharia-inspired bylaws are supported by nationalist parties. Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim, whose bylaw on prostitution bans "suspicious behavior" in public areas, is supported by the Golkar Party.
Several Islamic groups in Bekasi recently demanded the administration adopt sharia to curb "ongoing attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity". In some regions, bylaws regulate how people dress or attempt to regulate individual compliance to God.
Politician Nasir Djamil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said that in many regions the majority of the residents welcomed and even requested the imposition of sharia-based bylaws.
"Such bylaws are the wish of the local people, who are represented by [legislators] at the local regional legislative councils... I don't think the bylaws discriminate against or violate human rights," he added.
The PKS has been known as a conservative Islamic party but has taken a recent turn toward pluralism in declaring that it would seek to be more inclusive in a bid to garner more votes for the 2014 election.
Nasir said the party's new move did not change its stance on sharia-based bylaws. "The bylaws are a part of the democratic process in the regions... We will continue to listen to the people's aspirations and accommodate them," he told the Post.
Both Nasir and Rully recommended that those who feel discrimination or violated by the bylaws should turn to the Supreme Court and file a judicial review request.
The court has become a target of criticism for its lack of transparency in handling similar cases. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that it would caution its members who pushed for the implementation of such bylaws to garner votes.
PDI-P politician Budiman Sudjatmiko said Wednesday that if any party member or anyone it endorses in regional elections sought to discriminate and or supports rights-breaching bylaws, "it will be an embarrassment". "It is against the ideology of this party... and sacrifices our pluralism principle," he added.
Campaigning for sharia-based bylaws doesn't always win votes, he added. "We are winning the most regional elections this year and not once have we sold the idea [to impose such bylaws]. People are more interested in welfare or job opportunities," he said.