ADN Kronos International, 12-Oct-05 17:02
Indonesia: Focus - Tthe risks of banning J.I.
[PHOTO: The scene of this month's suicide attacks in Bali in which 19 people were
killed.]
Jakarta, 12 Oct. (AKI) - In the aftermath of the bombs that struck the resort of Bali at
the start of the month, Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has come
under international pressure - from the US and to a lesser extent Australia - to outlaw
Jemaah Islamiyah whose mission is the creation of an Islamic state in South East
Asia. "If president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bans Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), he will
lose the support of the Islamic parties and lose its ability to govern,” argues Damien
Kingsbury, senior lecturer in international and political studies at Deakin University
and author of "The Politics of Indonesia".
While JI - which wants to establish a pan-Islamic state across much of South East
Asia and is believed to be behind the 2002 Bali attacks, the 2004 Jakarta embassy
bombing and this month's suicide attacks in Bali - is outlawed in the US, Malaysia
and Singapore, Yudhoyono is reluctant to make a similar move in Indonesia, where JI
runs many Islamic schools and has considerable grass-roots support.
Yudhoyono was elected in September 2004 as a candidate of the small Democratic
Party (PD), thanks to his personal popularity and the support of the Islamic parties.
“Yudhoyono relied on the support of the Islamic parties for his presidential candidacy and
continues to rely on them to govern" Kingsbury told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Last year, thanks to the support of his deputy Jusuf Kalla, Yudhoyono succeeded in
gaining the support of the Golkar, the biggest Indonesian party.
However despite the president's popularity the parliament is split, with the opposition
parties PDI-P and PKB - the second and third largest parties for number of seats, led
by the former president Megawati Sukarnoputri and Gus Dur Wahid.
In such a scenario, Yudhoyono has little choice but to rely on Islamic parties,
especially if he wants to be re-elected for a second term. If he bans JI the Islamic
parties will side with the opposition party and be able to defeat any legislative
proposal by the government. , not a scenario conducive to Yudhoyono's ambitious
reform plans.
"It might be a good idea for Yudhoyono to broaden his political appeal, but Indonesian
politics is very fractionalised. and much of his support comes from voters supporting,
in varying degrees of intensity and transparency, the Islamic law," said Kingsbury.
In Indonesia Islam is very important even within secular parties, like Golkar, PDI-P and
Yudhoyono's PD.
"So on one hand if he looses the support of the Islamists, it might be good for
mainstream Indonesian society, but it would hinder his capacity to politically survive,"
said Kingsbury. "It would be a pity given that Yudhoyono is still the most competent
candidate for the presidency, and the most genuinely reformist" he concluded.
(Fsc/Aki)
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