Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama conceded losing in his re-election bid Wednesday, bringing to an end what one newspaper called Indonesia’s “dirtiest, most polarizing” campaign.
His defeat will likely be seen as a victory for Indonesia’s conservative Muslims, who have campaigned strongly against the ethnic Chinese Christian governor who is commonly known as Ahok. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country, with an estimated 263 million people, about 87% of whom are followers of Islam.
“We should forget the difference. We are all the same,” Ahok said after early election results indicated he was trailing his opponent, Anies Baswedan, a former Indonesian education and culture minister.
A final official result is unlikely to be known for at least two weeks.
Analysts said Ahok’s loss will encourage the use of religion in Indonesian elections as a political tool.
“There will not be any drastic changes to Jakarta, Anies will not apply Sharia law, but now this is a steep learning curve for politicians and political parties at seeing how (effective) religious issues are, even when used against an incumbent who was performing very well,” said Tobias Basuki, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Indonesian think tank.
Speaking earlier Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said political differences should not “break our unity.”
“We are all brothers and sisters. Whoever is elected, we must accept,” he told reporters after voting. The Indonesian leader has been vocal in his support of Ahok during the campaign.
But The Jakarta Post editorial board was brutal in its assessment of the campaign and what it had meant for Indonesia.
“(This) election campaign … (has) been the dirtiest, most polarizing and most divisive the nation has ever seen, far worse than that for the 2014 Presidential election,” the newspaper’s editorial said Wednesday.
Religious divisions in campaign
Ahok was fiercely targeted during the campaign by hard-line Muslim groups, who supported Baswedan.
The governor is on trial over blasphemy charges after an edited version of comments he made at a November rally went viral on Indonesian social media.
At mass rallies in March, thousands of Jakartans protested against Ahok, calling for him to be removed from power and jailed.
Losing the election isn’t just disappointing for Ahok, but it could also leave him vulnerable to being jailed.
A verdict and sentence in the blasphemy trial depends largely on the public’s mood, said Basuki, the researcher at the think tank.
“It seems like the court was waiting. If Ahok had won by a large margin, there wouldn’t be much danger if (it) charged him with a low sentence, but the election alone will (add) pressure to charge him on a higher count,” he said.
