The infamous leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab, is said to have already voted in Mecca (where the one-time pornography suspect still lives in self-imposed exile) but he is also trying to exert his influence on today’s vote with a message to his followers that could be seen as a dog whistle stoking voter intimidation fears.
The firebrand cleric was supposed to do a live video call to the Al Falah Mosque, in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta, this morning but it ended up not happening. However, pre-recorded video of the FPI leader’s instructions to his followers was shared by Lecturer Derry Sulaiman on his Instagram account along with the caption “Listen to the message of the Habib from the Holy Land… Before it is deleted”.
View this post on Instagram
SIMAK PESAN HABIB DARI TANAH SUCI… SEBELUM DI HAPUS… . . . #DSAS❤️ #DSAS #PAS
In the brief video, Rizieq tells his followers that, if they see any foreigners getting close to a TPS (except for observers, an exception he stresses several times) or foreigners trying to vote, they should “detain and secure them” and bring them to the authorities.
“We do not want to give foreigners the chance to disrupt the election of our beloved Indonesia,” Rizieq says.
Rizieq’s message is not surprising as he made similar comments through a representative last month and has issued similar instructions to his followers ahead of other elections.
Rizieq may claim that he only wants his followers to guard the polls to protect them from foreign influence (based mostly on paranoid conspiracy theories about millions of Chinese being brought to Indonesia to vote for Jokowi), but that explanation has been used in the past to justify members of FPI and other hardline Islamist groups hanging out near polling stations so they can intimidate those who look “foreign” (i.e. minorities such as Chinese-Indonesians), a tactic the police have thwarted in the past.
And if you don’t think voter intimidation is a real concern, check out this photo of a banner, posted by journalist Erin Cook, showing a banner hanging in Glodok (Indonesia’s historic Chinatown district) that assures votes “Don’t be scared!!!” above “The police and military guarantee safety.”
https://twitter.com/imerincook/status/1118350972810489857
Fortunately, we haven’t heard any reports of actual voter intimidation today, and, hopefully, we won’t. It would be a good sign of how little relevance Rizieq Shihab has had on this election after his pivotal role in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial race, when he helped lead the protests against former Jakarta Governor Basuki “BTP” Tjahaja Purnama for his alleged blasphemy, leading to BTP’s election loss, his 2-year prison sentence, and fears about the growing influence of Islamists on Indonesian politics.
Despite Prabowo’s gestures towards hardliners, like appearances at their events and multiple promises to bring Rizieq safely back to Indonesia should he win, the presidential challenger has also angrily hit back at accusations he is playing identity politics and supported the creation of an Islamic caliphate.
With the final pre-election polls overwhelmingly predicting a big win for Jokowi, it’s extremely doubtful Rizieq’s instructions will have any impact on the vote. And, in the past, the FPI leader has indicated that he would not return to Indonesia while Jokowi was still president. So we may be looking at a Rizieq-free future for Indonesia for at least the next five years, which would definitely be a bonus for a lot of Jokowi’s supporters.
Reader Interactions