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An Indonesian election commission worker arranging ballot boxes in Surabaya. Photo: AFP

Jokowi, Prabowo woo Muslim voters; ex-Jakarta governor Ahok fights for his right to vote in Osaka

  • Indonesia’s presidential candidates went on the umrah and got endorsements from religious leaders, as overseas voting began ahead of the April 17 ballot in Indonesia
From going on the umrah (minor pilgrimage) to endorsements from religious leaders, Indonesia’s presidential candidates revved up efforts to attract significant Muslim votes in the three-day cooling-off period as the nation awaits to cast their votes on Wednesday.
An endorsement came from popular Muslim cleric Abdul Somad, the central figure of Indonesia’s born-again Muslims movement called hijrah , for presidential contender Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno, via his official Instagram account, followed by 8.8 million. The cleric posted two photos that showed him hugging Prabowo, alongside the caption “2019 elections showed which friends are my real friends and which friends are disguised enemies”.

Other popular clerics endorsing the former general on Sunday were Adi Hidayat, another hijrah figure, and Abdullah Gymnastiar, widely known as Aa Gym, who said in a video uploaded by Prabowo’s coalition parties that he supported the pair because they “didn’t force ulema to give their support” during campaign. While endorsements by online-savvy Muslim clerics could strengthen the support of housewives, mothers, and educated Muslim millennials for Prabowo, analysts said that they were not enough to boost his electability as their endorsements came three days before the elections.

 
The endorsements from the country’s biggest Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, for incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his vice-presidential candidate, Ma’ruf Amin, were also deemed more important than those from Abdul Somad and Aa Gym, analysts said.

How social media inspired Indonesia’s born-again ‘Hijrah’ Muslim millennials

“Right now, voters’ map is already set in stone, who are going to vote for Jokowi and who for Prabowo,” said Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a researcher of Islamic political movements at the Centre for Political Studies at Indonesian Institute of Sciences. “Abdul Somad’s choice is his personal choice, it’s very different than endorsements from ulema from Nahdlatul Ulama who typically represents their very loyal Muslim followers.”

The fight over Muslim votes, a very significant voter base in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, was carried over to Mecca as both Widodo and Sandiaga Uno, Prabowo’s running mate, took off there after the final presidential debate on Saturday for a quick umrah before this week’s elections.

Prabowo, seated left, and Widodo, second from left, share a light moment with their running mates Sandiaga Uno, top, and Maruf Amin, right, in September. Photo: AP

Widodo had a lead over Sandiaga, however, as the president met Saudi King Salman Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. Widodo and his wife, Iriana, also entered the Kaaba, Islam’s most sacred site, in a highly symbolic move to counter allegations that he was anti-Islam and a communist. After the meeting, Ace Hasan Syadzily, a spokesperson for Widodo’s campaign, said Saudi Arabia had added 10,000 slots to the 221,000 or so pilgrims Indonesia can send to Mecca each year for the haj.

“Mecca is chosen as part of a candidate’s efforts to symbolise himself with ‘the chosen leader’ status,” Jati said. “In a Javanese power dynamic, [going to umrah] can also be seen as an attempt to obtain a revelation or divine power.”

Widodo won in this regard as “he could enter the Kaaba, thus silence the critics who accused him [of being] an infidel and a communist”.

An estimated 192.8 million people are eligible to vote and while credible surveys have pointed to a Widodo-Ma’ruf victory, analysts said undecided voters and those who say they will abstain – groups that could comprise up to 10 per cent and 30 per cent of voters respectively – could hurt the incumbent president’s chances.

At a seminar organised by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore on Monday, visiting fellow Budi Irawanto said he expected a Widodo- Ma’ruf victory but the maximum margin would be about 10 per cent. His research in Central Java, which is home to 14.5 per cent of voters, showed how the Prabowo-Sandiaga camp had ramped up outreach to voters, for example, by relocating their campaign head office from Jakarta to the city of Solo, “about 500m from Jokowi’s residence”. Jokowi was born in the city and began his political career in 2005 as its mayor.

“The campaign volunteers I spoke to said it’s unrealistic for Jokowi to achieve his aim of getting 84 per cent of votes in Solo … there is strong sentiment to support Prabowo there as well,” Budi said.

Indonesia election: a battle to the wire between Jokowi and Prabowo

While Indonesians will cast their vote on Wednesday, overseas voters did so over the weekend. Of seven overseas exit polls that This Week in Asia received at the time of writing, all results suggested an overwhelming lead for Widodo, including those from Singapore, New York, London and Melbourne. In Saudi Arabia, exit polls showed Widodo getting over 53 per cent of the votes, compared with Prabowo’s 41 per cent. There are over two million overseas voters.
One incident at a polling station in Osaka has gone viral, in which former Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok – who is known for his brash and blunt nature – was seen hitting out at Indonesian election officials whom he claimed had threatened his right to vote.

In the clip, Purnama was heard arguing with election officials that voters who had only brought their passports to be eligible to vote on the day should not take priority over those, like him, who had applied to vote ahead of time and been included in the final voters list.

 

“I have relocated my right to vote from Jakarta to Osaka, that means, if I couldn’t vote here, I will lose my right to vote because I couldn’t vote if I return to Jakarta tomorrow, while these people, who use their passports to vote, can vote if they return to Jakarta tomorrow,” Purnama said.

At one point in the video, he was seen yelling at the officials: “My hobby is creating scenes like this.” In the end, Purnama seemed to be able to vote as he posted an inked finger, indicating that he had cast a vote in Osaka.

Additional reporting by Lynn Lee

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