Salim Osman – Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to put an end to a raging controversy over one issue that has threatened his bid for the top job in the country.
He has clarified that he is not against syariah law as his detractors have portrayed him to be. He also made it clear that he had no plans to incorporate such laws into the country's Constitution if he were to become president.
It would work against the interests of religious minorities, he said. "I believe in pluralism, democracy, the rule of law and the absence of discriminatory policies against any ethnic groups," he said at a dialogue with students and academics at the Sam Ratulangi University here on Friday.
The state ideology of Pancasila and the concept of Bhineka Tunggal Ika, or unity in diversity, by which Indonesians, regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliations, live harmoniously with one another, should remain supreme, Mr Bambang added.
He was speaking in response to a query by undergraduate Hardi Lintong, who noted that the candidate's Democrat Party had forged an alliance with the Crescent Star Party (PBB), whose goals included the enforcement of the religious law.
Mr Hardi felt that enforcing syariah law would threaten the interests of minorities such as Christians, who form the majority in North Sulawesi province.
"My fear is that there will be curbs on our religious practices, the construction of our churches and the introduction of discriminatory policies against minorities," he told the gathering.
Mr Bambang said he understood the concerns of people such as Mr Hardi as he, too, had been the victim of a vicious hate campaign to smear his reputation among Muslims and Christians.
"They accused me of being anti-syariah law and therefore anti- Islam to stop Muslims from supporting me. They told the Christians not to vote for me because I would introduce the Islamic law in the country's Constitution if I am elected," he said.
He did not identify the groups behind the smear campaign, but said the allegations were being spread in some mosques, and media reports had misquoted him as having opposed syariah law while campaigning in Ambon last week.
"I didn't make any statement on syariah law. This is the kind of black propaganda being directed against me," he told reporters later.
As a Muslim, he said that he supported the syariah law in the context of the law that required all Muslims to perform their religious obligations, such as the five daily prayers. This is the same as non-Muslims being expected to abide by their own religious laws, he said.
"But if supporting the Islamic syariah is perceived as requiring the changing of the 1945 Constitution, I will not agree to this. I respect the principles of Bhineka Tunggal Ika, or unity in diversity," he said. "Let this be my last statement to the press on this issue," he added.
Indonesians are sensitive towards any move to incorporate the Islamic law in the Constitution as this means enforcing all aspects of the religious law, including the hudud, or penal code. Some aspects of the religious law pertaining to family matters, such as marriage and divorce, are already enforced in the country, but only among Muslims.