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Greg Barton - Islam and Democracy, The Case of Indonesia
Rumi ForumThe desire for good governance is universal. Without it justice, equity, security and stability, along with the more concrete needs of sound healthcare, education and basic infrastructure, cannot be counted upon. Good governance itself cannot be sustained without accountability. In most places this is best achieved through some form of democracy. Many Muslim majority countries suffer from poor-governance and a deficit of democracy. In the west, and even within Muslim society, it is common to assume that this lack of democracy is a product of cultural factors associated with Islam. In much of tRead moreShow less
The desire for good governance is universal. Without it justice, equity, security and stability, along with the more concrete needs of sound healthcare, education and basic infrastructure, cannot be counted upon. Good governance itself cannot be sustained without accountability. In most places this is best achieved through some form of democracy. Many Muslim majority countries suffer from poor-governance and a deficit of democracy. In the west, and even within Muslim society, it is common to assume that this lack of democracy is a product of cultural factors associated with Islam. In much of the contemporary discourse about troubled parts of West Asia and the Middle East it is implicitly assumed, if not explicitly stated, that democracy will not take root because Islam and democracy are not compatible.
Most indicators suggest that ordinary Muslims across the world don't see there to be a clash between Islamic values and democratic practices. There remains, nevertheless, a strongly held conviction amongst some western and some Islamic intellectuals that the essential character of Islam is incompatible with modern, secular, democratic conceptions of the state. There are many lines of argument against this dismal view but perhaps the most substantial rebuff comes not from intellectuals but from ordinary voters and citizens within democratizing Muslim countries. Contrary to popular opinion democracy is being steadily consolidated in many countries around the world, including many Muslim countries. The most striking recent example of this is found in Indonesia.
In the eleven years since Suharto was forced to resign Indonesia has made a remarkable transition from being a nation in crisis to becoming Southeast Asia's only stable, healthy democracy. And in this process Islam has been a significant presence. The world's largest Muslim country, despite misinformed views to the contrary, is as 'Islamic' as any other country in the Middle East or Asia. The leaders who succeeded Suharto, Habibie and Wahid, who might best be seen as transitional presidents were well-known for their earlier leadership of Islamic organizations. Although eccentric and unconventional they pushed through important reforms and raised expectations of what democratic government should look like in Indonesia, upholding secular principles whilst allowing competing religious claims to be marketed to voters. The three parliamentary elections held in 1999, 2004 and 2009 were remarkably peaceful and orderly, despite the challenges of reaching 170 million voters spread across an archipelagic developing nation wider than the United States. All of the large parties made reference to Islam in their campaigns, some Islamic parties appealed primarily to observant Muslims but campaigned on secular principles and some other Islamist parties campaigned for Islamic law and the (eventual) achieving of an Islamic state. The Islamist parties enjoyed their newfound freedoms but failed to live up to their aspirations of achieving broad support as it became clear that nine out of ten voters do not find radical Islamism attractive. In the July 2009 presidential elections the popular incumbent, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his new running mate, the pious but non-Islamist economist Dr Boediono, faced-down claims of 'not being Islamic enough' and cruised to victory in the first round of voting to achieve a mandate of 61% against two pairs of opponents whose popularist rhetoric was unable to overcome doubts about their reformist intent. With Yudhoyono tripling his parliamentary vote and the radical Islamist vote remaining static the new cabinet is likely to be even more decisive in the upholding secular democratic principles of Pancasila. At the same time Indonesia has successfully contained a major terrorist threat through open judicial processes, achieved economic growth rates in excess of six percent and steadily advanced a series of reforms supporting the health and education. Much more remains to be done but this is, by any measure, a successful Muslim democracy.
See full event here:
http://rumiforum.org/islam-and-democracy-the-case-of-indonesia/
http://www.rumiforum.org, http://rumiforum.blogspot.com,
http://www.youtube.com/user/RumiForum, http://twitter.com/#!/rumiforum
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rumi-Forum/270743316210
http://picasaweb.google.com/110222538312634006729
Most indicators suggest that ordinary Muslims across the world don't see there to be a clash between Islamic values and democratic practices. There remains, nevertheless, a strongly held conviction amongst some western and some Islamic intellectuals that the essential character of Islam is incompatible with modern, secular, democratic conceptions of the state. There are many lines of argument against this dismal view but perhaps the most substantial rebuff comes not from intellectuals but from ordinary voters and citizens within democratizing Muslim countries. Contrary to popular opinion democracy is being steadily consolidated in many countries around the world, including many Muslim countries. The most striking recent example of this is found in Indonesia.
In the eleven years since Suharto was forced to resign Indonesia has made a remarkable transition from being a nation in crisis to becoming Southeast Asia's only stable, healthy democracy. And in this process Islam has been a significant presence. The world's largest Muslim country, despite misinformed views to the contrary, is as 'Islamic' as any other country in the Middle East or Asia. The leaders who succeeded Suharto, Habibie and Wahid, who might best be seen as transitional presidents were well-known for their earlier leadership of Islamic organizations. Although eccentric and unconventional they pushed through important reforms and raised expectations of what democratic government should look like in Indonesia, upholding secular principles whilst allowing competing religious claims to be marketed to voters. The three parliamentary elections held in 1999, 2004 and 2009 were remarkably peaceful and orderly, despite the challenges of reaching 170 million voters spread across an archipelagic developing nation wider than the United States. All of the large parties made reference to Islam in their campaigns, some Islamic parties appealed primarily to observant Muslims but campaigned on secular principles and some other Islamist parties campaigned for Islamic law and the (eventual) achieving of an Islamic state. The Islamist parties enjoyed their newfound freedoms but failed to live up to their aspirations of achieving broad support as it became clear that nine out of ten voters do not find radical Islamism attractive. In the July 2009 presidential elections the popular incumbent, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his new running mate, the pious but non-Islamist economist Dr Boediono, faced-down claims of 'not being Islamic enough' and cruised to victory in the first round of voting to achieve a mandate of 61% against two pairs of opponents whose popularist rhetoric was unable to overcome doubts about their reformist intent. With Yudhoyono tripling his parliamentary vote and the radical Islamist vote remaining static the new cabinet is likely to be even more decisive in the upholding secular democratic principles of Pancasila. At the same time Indonesia has successfully contained a major terrorist threat through open judicial processes, achieved economic growth rates in excess of six percent and steadily advanced a series of reforms supporting the health and education. Much more remains to be done but this is, by any measure, a successful Muslim democracy.
See full event here:
http://rumiforum.org/islam-and-democracy-the-case-of-indonesia/
http://www.rumiforum.org, http://rumiforum.blogspot.com,
http://www.youtube.com/user/RumiForum, http://twitter.com/#!/rumiforum
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rumi-Forum/270743316210
http://picasaweb.google.com/110222538312634006729
