Jakarta – Beyond exercising restraint over their survival instincts by foregoing eating and drinking for the daylight hours for a month, Indonesian Muslims will face an extra challenge during this year's Ramadan: the political heat of an election year.
A little over a month ago, the country held what some described as the world's biggest one-day election, with most of the public's attention falling on the presidential election.
As the official vote count continues, we are already seeing tensions brewing.
With less than two weeks until the General Elections Commission (KPU) is due to announce the winning presidential ticket, calls for the House of Representatives to launch a probe into allegations of large-scale election fraud have continued to gain traction.
Last week, an alliance of some 50 activists, members of civil society groups and experts threw its weight behind five political parties that backed the electoral rivals of presumptive president-elect Prabowo Subianto, calling on the parties to push for their lawmakers in the House to exercise their right to investigate what the alliance described as "strong indications" of fraud having taken place in last month's presidential election.
Following the Feb. 14 vote and throughout the vote-tabulation process, Prabowo's opponents have claimed to have found evidence of voter intimidation and inflated tabulation figures for the Gerindra Party chairman, ultimately leading to a call from presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo for a House inquiry.
Earlier this month, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Ganjar's chief backer, along with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), which supported presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, proposed the inquiry during a House plenary session.
Adding fuel to the fire, instead of doing their part to uphold the integrity of the democratic process, the KPU has lost a considerable amount of credibility over the past few weeks.
Technical irregularities that the organizers have struggled to explain have raised concerns about the professionalism of the KPU and the transparency of the overall vote tallying process.
Once considered the digital embodiment of the KPU's commitment to upholding electoral transparency, the Tabulation Information System (Sirekap) application has been embroiled in controversy since its first day in use for the 2024 election.
Political parties, volunteer election monitors and legislative candidates have flagged what they say is proof of inflated vote numbers and other irregularities in the digital vote tabulation, prompting the KPU to entirely take down the chart displaying the preliminary tabulation data.
This, to no one's surprise, has angered politicians and the public alike.
Notwithstanding the heated controversy, the country's political predicament provides plenty of opportunities for people to rise to their religious beliefs. Indonesians, after all, are known for their adherence to their faiths, in some cases to the level of religious conservatism.
Earlier this week, Balinese Hindus observed Nyepi, a day of silence, fasting and meditation as they started another new year in the Saka calendar.
Starting on election day, Indonesian Catholics began observing Lent, where many give alms, pray and fast, which according to Pope Francis are paths "to the core of the Christian life".
And this week, Muslims welcomed Ramadan. For the next few weeks, the country's many Muslims will engage in a large-scale exercise of control over primary human desires and base human emotions.
As the Prophet Muhammad said, Ramadan "is the month, whose beginning is mercy, its middle, forgiveness and its end, emancipation from the fire".
In its religious observances, Ramadan is exclusive to Muslims, but as an embodiment of heartfelt tradition, it reflects the esteem that the whole nation, in all its diversity, holds for religious and cultural identity.
We must all abide by our duties, and in this election year, they surely include protecting our democratic processes from fraudulent practices that reduce elections to mere assertions of elite power.
May we all rise to the occasion and reap a month of blessings.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/03/15/month-of-blessings.htm