Post-election Politics

AZYUMARDI AZRA

· 5 minutes read

The most crucial stage of the 2019 elections - including presidential elections and legislative election – has finally ended.

The presidential and legislative elections, which were not only tiring but also often triggered high political tension, have been completed. The vote counting results were announced on Tuesday morning, a day earlier than initially planned.

Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running mate Ma\'ruf Amin received 85,607,362 votes (55.50 percent), while Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno obtained 68,650,239 vote (44.50 percent).

Prabowo and Sandi said they would challenge the election results at the Constitutional Court.

If within four days or on May 24, no challenge is made, the General Election Commission (KPU) will declare Jokowi and Ma\'ruf Amin the elected president and vice president.

After that, we’ll wait for the formation of a new legislature– for the national level (the House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), for the regional level (Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) for regency and provincial levels). At the national level, the DPR and DPD will form the People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPR).

We are also waiting for the formation of a new government after the president and vice president are installed on Oct. 20, 2019. Given the many sacrifices that have been made by citizens, the new government should, in return, be able to form a new government with ministers who not only have integrity but are professional and want to work hard.

The 2019 election left behind many political, social and religious agendas that must be resolved. The urgent agenda is to reestablish political, social and religious harmony. The presidential election was not only a fierce political contest but also triggered political, social and religious divisions.

This division will not be able to resolved by itself. Serious efforts are needed from all political elites, social elites and religious elites to knit the torn social fabric. Religion-related divisions are also obvious. Although the leadership of mainstream organizations, such as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, repeatedly emphasized their neutrality, their members remained divided because they supported different presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs, with a flaming partisan attitude.

At the same time, it can also be seen that in the presidential election there were people using a religion to mask their political agenda. In political contestation, they often use religious terminology according to

their own interpretation and understanding. This group has the capability of turning the election into a contest with "jihad" nuance or zero-sum election.

As a result, the 2019 Presidential Election seemed to justify the opinion and arguments of political observers, especially from abroad, about "the rise of Islamic identity politics" in Indonesia in recent years. This impression was also one of the themes of the discussion between audiences and me when I became a guest speaker at a conference in Berlin, Germany, on April 29, 2019 about "Indonesian Islam as a Model of the Pluricultural Society".

Responding to the audience\'s argument, it was difficult to refute the nuance of "Islamic identity politics" in the 2019 presidential election. Nevertheless, the nuance of identity politics emerged more because of political contingency among Indonesian Muslims rather than genuine revival of identity politics among the mainstream.

The argument was supported by the fact that the winners of the 2019 legislative election are Pancasila-based political parties such Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 19.33 percent of available seats, Gerindra Party with 12.57 percent, Golkar Party with 12.31 percent, the National Awakening Party (PKB) with (9. 69 percent, Nasdem Party with 9.05 percent, Democratic Party with 7.77 percent, and the National Mandate Party (PAN) with 6.84 percent. While two Islamic parties The Prosperous Justice Party or PKS with 8.21 percent and the United Development Party (PPP) with 4.52 percent.

The results of this legislative election clearly show that the majority of Muslim voters voted for Pancasila political parties. Although both Islamic-based political parties (PKS and PPP) were also committed to Pancasila, they were not the choice of Muslim voters.

With the results of this legislative election, it can be concluded that the majority of Muslim voters are not interested in Islamic identity politics. Indonesian Islam with a Wasathiyah character with moderation, accommodation, inclusiveness and strong tolerance throughout Indonesian political history does not provide a broad space for the growth of identity politics.

With the same indication, the failure of Islamic parties to get a significant amount of votes in elections since 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 (and also 2019) has become a driving force for certain Muslim groups who are not political parties (therefore basically non-political) to do various political maneuvers. Official political forces — in the form of political parties or political parties\' coalitions — that need support immediately accommodate these non-political parties.

The results of the opportunism and political contingency accommodation in the 2019 presidential election was the occurrence of a political marriage of convenience — a political marriage between various political camps for enjoyment among strange bedfellows. This is not because the parties involved in the coalition or alliance have ideologies that are not only different but also incompatible with each other.

It will be difficult for political opportunism like this to survive in the long run amid the subsequent political developments and processes. In the course of time, changes in political configuration along with political figures involved in political processes will always present new political phenomena.

AZYUMARDI AZRA, Professor of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta; member of the AIPI Culture Commission

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