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Moderate Islamists and peaceful democracy

By Louay Abdulbaki - posted Monday, 10 December 2007


Some observers even speculated that the Indonesian society will be plagued with internal violence and conflicts. However, contrary to these pessimistic expectations, Indonesian Islamic forces did not obstruct democratic reform in their country. They rather played a leading role in facilitating and stabilising the democratisation process. They actively participated in legislative and constitutional democratic reforms, promoted democratic agendas and have consistently demonstrated their unequivocal commitment to the democratic rules of the game, even when the outcome was not favourable to their cause.

Therefore, despite the existence of some challenges and shortcomings, particularly with regard to the persistence of strong patrimonial politics and weak political programs, with the full participation and support of the mainstream Islamic forces, Indonesia has successfully developed most of the features of a democratic country.

All authoritarian legacies and anti-democracy alternatives have been eliminated. Freedom of speech and the media, associational autonomy and civil liberties are largely guaranteed. Free and fair elections and peaceful rotations of power have become the norm. Democracy, in other words, has become the only game in town with the full support of the mainstream Islamic forces.

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In fact, and most remarkably, the only alternative to patrimonial politics (a major shortcoming of Indonesian democracy) appears to be emerging from the camp of Islamic parties. The PKS (Prosperous Justice Party), which is very close to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in its ideological and organisational outlook, is the only Indonesian party which relies on policies and programs rather than charismatic leadership and patrimonialism.

Almost all other Indonesian parties mainly rely on charismatic leaders in order to gain electoral support. Many observers agree that the PKS will likely lead to a gradual democratic consolidation and more institutionalised democratic practices in Indonesia. The PKS managed to foster an image of a clean and visionary party and develop coherent policy-oriented political program. As a result, it was the only Indonesian party which significantly increased its share of the vote in the 2004 parliamentary elections. The number of its parliamentary seats increased from seven (in 1999 elections) to 45 seats.

Although Islamic movements are significantly diverse, they are still widely depicted by the Western media as monolithic and hostile. It is very simplistic and misleading to group all Islamic groups and movements together and regard them as radical or violent. We cannot keep on all the nice talk about tolerance and pluralism while rejecting the basic and political rights of those who disagree with us.

People throughout the world, especially in democratic countries, should continue to press for an end to regime repression of democratically spirited liberal and Islamic groups. They should pressure their governments to categorically reject such repression and condemn it in the strongest terms.

We should not have the slightest doubt that wherever given a chance, people of all backgrounds and cultures will choose democracy, freedom, peace and progress.

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About the Author

Mr. Louay Abdulbaki is a PhD Candidate at Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne, and he intends to submit his thesis shortly. He is the author of two (Arabic) books: The Roots of the Islamic Political Thought and the Stages of its Development and Modernist Arabic Discourse between Abstraction and Concrete Connotations. Mr Abdulbaki is interested in Islamic and modern thought, Islamic politics and globalisation. He also writes regularly on Arab and Syrian politics.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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