Widodo risks voter backlash with ban of Islamist group

JAKARTA — Indonesian President Joko Widodo risks further alienating conservative Muslim voters after being granted new powers to outlaw religious organisations.

The Law and Human Rights Ministry last week banned Hizbut Tahrir, citing the Islamist group’s support for a Muslim caliphate and other activities that deviate from Indonesia’s state principles, known as Pancasila.

Mr Widodo said the new powers are needed because of increased threats to Indonesia’s unity and sovereignty. “The country must be fearless to take control,” he said last week in a statement.

Still, some opposition parties have been critical of the move, raising the potential for a more fractious Parliament at a time Mr Widodo is seeking to fire up the economy to generate revenue for his ambitious spending plans.

He still controls about 70 per cent of the 560 seats in Parliament, but there have been periodic frictions, even with the parties that support him.

“We are concerned the decree is being used to suppress organisations not on the government’s side,” said Mr Mardani Ali Sera, deputy secretary-general of the opposition Prosperous Justice Party. “That’s the characteristic of an authoritarian state.

“The most effective way to tackle the problem is not by issuing a decree, but by strengthening our police.”

Hizbut Tahrir has signalled it will challenge the decree in the courts, while Gerindra, the party of Mr Widodo’s likely 2019 presidential election rival Prabowo Subianto, has expressed concerns that freedom of assembly restrictions could stir conflict.

“Hizbut Tahrir isn’t particularly well liked across the Islamic spectrum, but a lot of Islamic groups also don’t like the government disbanding civil society organisations without compelling reasons for doing so,” said Dr Greg Fealy, a senior fellow in Indonesian politics at the Australian National University.

Earlier this year, rallies supported by Hizbut Tahrir helped topple Jakarta’s former Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, in an election marred by religious tensions. The election was widely seen as a proxy for the 2019 presidential race.

It is not the first time Mr Widodo’s religious commitment has been questioned. Prior to the 2014 presidential vote, he made a last-minute dash to Mecca in a bid to woo conservative Muslims. Mr Widodo’s close ties with Purnama have also raised eyebrows in some Muslim quarters.

Mr Prabowo, who lost the 2014 election to Mr Widodo, has been courting the Islamic vote. He backed Mr Anies Baswedan in his winning campaign to become Jakarta governor, helping to tap Muslim anger towards Purnama over comments that led to the latter being convicted of blasphemy.

The hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets against Purnama might be prepared to do the same to support Mr Prabowo against Mr Widodo.

Dr Fealy said the president could also face a problem if the ban on Hizbut Tahrir were to be overturned in the courts. “That could play into the efforts of some Islamist organisations to undermine the president in the run up to the 2019 election,” he noted. BLOOMBERG