JAKARTA ELECTION RESULT SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE TO ETHNIC CHINESE AND CHRISTIANS WHO ASPIRE TO HIGH OFFICE IN INDONESIA: FORGET IT.

By Ross B. Taylor AM

The results from last week's Governor elections in Jakarta show a strong win for former national education minister Anies Baswedan over the incumbent, ethnic Chinese Christian, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or 'Ahok' as he is commonly known.

Despite polls showing over 60% of eligible voters in Indonesia's sprawling capital saying 'Ahok' had been a 'very competent and effective' governor, only 40% said they intended to vote for him; and this appears to have been proven an accurate assessment in today's election.

Ahok's team ran a poor campaign and when combined with many Indonesian's seeing him as a 'sombong' (arrogant) leader who treated Jakarta's slum dwellers very badly in his attempt to clean-up Jakarta, it was always going to be a difficult election for him to win. But it was the Islamic groups such as the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Community Islamic Forum (FUI), who mounted a strong anti-Christian, anti-Chinese campaign in the lead-up to the voting day, that really swayed public opinion.

As the winner from the election, Baswedan will become the new governor in October of this year and his win will delight Trump supporter and friend Harry Tanoesoedibjo, but Ahok's removal will really delight those who seek to eventually turn Indonesia into an Islamic State with Sharia Law.

Baswedan has, despite being a warm and engaging person, struggled as an effective administrator so it will remain to be seen how he will perform as governor. But what really counts as a result of today's vote, is that any Chinese or Christian who aspires to hold high office in the immediate years ahead, can forget it. The 'Islam' card will now be played right up to the next presidential election in 2019.

Democracy has 'spoken' and delivered a verdict; life will go on as it always does in Jakarta, but the outcome is potentially a 'watershed' moment for Indonesia and for those who seek a transition to a far more Islamic conservative nation that until now has embraced religious pluralism and tolerance as an essential part of its core philosophical values called 'Pancasila'.

April 2017