Jakarta – In a move likely to infuriate right-wing groups, Indonesian Muslim leader Amien Rais openly threw his support behind Megawati Sukarnoputri to become Indonesia's next president.
Amien reiterated his stance at a packed press conference yesterday in Jakarta, saying that the Koran does not have any verse that discriminates women from men.
"According to the Holy Koran, which I believe as being absolutely right, men and women are on an equal footing in front of God," Amien said, citing a long Koranic verse in Arabic which basically means that woman workers are similar to male workers.
Amien, who is the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and used to head the Muhammadiyah Muslim group, Indonesia's second largest Muslim organisation, raised the issue in an apparent bid to counter arguments from various strong Muslim organisations that Megawati should not become president.
They said that Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P), which is widely speculated to win nearly 40 per cent of the vote in last week's elections, had fielded a disproportionate number of "non-Muslim" candidates.
The Muslim clerics, one of whom belongs to the Muslim-based Crescent Star Party, also oppose Megawati, saying that the Koran basically positions men to be "imams" or leaders.
The Indonesian Ulama Council, the government-sanctioned Muslim umbrella group here, called on Muslims not to vote for the PDI-P just a few days before the June 7 election, distributing leaflets and organising prayers in many mosques to stop voters from choosing Megawati.
"Women can become generals, women can become presidents, women can become doctors, women can become professors, or whatever they want because they are as good as men," Amien said.
Despite his support for Megawati as president, Amien declined to have his party become a junior partner in a Megawati government, saying that the PAN has some fundamental differences with the PDI-P.
His party is projected to get around 40 seats in the 500-strong House of Representatives. Although the number is not as big as other parties, such as Megawati's PDI-P, but it might tip the balance between the Megawati camp and the Muslim camps.
Amien also stressed that he is also not going to join President B.J. Habibie's Golkar that is still trying to build a coalition with the United Development Party as well as some other Islamic parties.
He argued that if his party sided with Golkar, students will predictably stage street rallies to protest against such a controversial decision, saying that the image of the PAN as a reformist organisation will also be destroyed.
Amien unexpectedly met Habibie last week to discuss the election. The unreported meeting raised speculations here that Amien is to support a Habibie presidency or a coalition with Golkar.
But Amien played down the speculation, saying that he basically likes to open communication channels with everyone, which includes Habibie. "I also met General Wiranto of the armed forces last night and you still do not know that," said Amien, catching many a journalist by surprise.
He said both Wiranto and himself discussed the progress of the election, adding they agreed that basically it was a free and fair process although the elections in Aceh in northern Sumatra were problematic.
Wiranto, the Number One man of the Indonesian military, is speculated to become the vice president in a Megawati presidency.