(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Indonesia believe public service should be separate from religion, according to a poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI). 57 per cent of respondents support secular values in politics, while 33 per cent prefer Islamic values.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono—a security minister who ran as the candidate of the Democrat Party (PD)—won the September 2004 presidential election with 60.62 per cent of the vote in a run-off over incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri of the Struggling Indonesian Democratic Party (PDIP). The vote marked the first time Indonesian voters picked their head of state through the ballot box.
On Jul. 22, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruled in favour of allowing independent candidates to contest local ballots. Two days later, the country’s legislature—the House of People’s Representatives—supported the decision. Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country.
In September, lawmakers with the Party of Functional Groups (Golkar), the PD and the PDIP proposed a bill that would force all political parties to adopt “Pancasila”—an ideology that places special emphasis on the concepts of religious belief, humanity, unity, democracy and social justice, without promoting Islam. During the three-decade dictatorship of Suharto, Indonesia’s political parties were ordered to include “Pancasila” in their platforms.
Susilo’s government opposes the bill, and wants to abide by a 2002 piece of legislation, which allows Islamic political parties to promote religious platforms as long as their policies do not conflict with the 1945 Constitution or with “Pancasila”.
Polling Data
Do you support secular values in politics, or Islamic values in politics?
Secular values in politics 57%
Islamic values in politics 33%
Both / Neither / Not sure 10%
Source: Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI)
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,200 Indonesian adults, conducted in late September and early October 2007. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.