Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto plays to Muslim voters in a twist of faith before election
- The presidential candidate is trying to cultivate an image as a pious Muslim before taking on incumbent Joko Widodo in the April 17 election
- The approach may be effective in regions such as Aceh where faith plays a significant role, but is it enough to sway other voters?
The former general is facing President Joko Widodo in the polls, a repeat of 2014 when he lost to Widodo by a margin of just 6 per cent. This time, he is claiming that Indonesia under Widodo has seen ballooning foreign debt and would not last more than three days if it were caught up in a war due to a lack of bullets in its arsenal.
His running mate, renowned entrepreneur and former Jakarta vice-governor Sandiaga Uno, stood beside him throughout the speech.
Prabowo also repeatedly vowed to protect all religious leaders, chief among them Muslim clerics, citing their significant contribution to the four-year fight to win the country’s independence from the Netherlands after it was proclaimed on August 17, 1945.
“We will guarantee the respect our ulema deserve, and their right to be free from criminal threats. This will be very significant … because the role of the ulema in our fight for independence was also monumental,” he said. “As Indonesians we shall not disrespect our Islamic leaders, our ulema, and other religious leaders among us.”