From the outset, the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election has been beset with attempts to influence voters using racial and religious issues, chief among them being the blasphemy allegations and subsequent trial of incumbent candidate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
With the election just two weeks away, it seems the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which is in a coalition with Gerindra supporting the candidate pair Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno, is ready to use racial attacks to help their candidates win the vote.
During a campaign event for Anies-Sandiaga in Jakarta on Sunday, PKS deputy advisory chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid — who was a losing Jakarta gubernatorial candidate in 2012 — spoke in front of thousands of supporters urging them to vote for Anies-Sandiaga, who he claimed were the only ones who could guarantee a better future for Jakarta.
But towards the end Hidayat’s speech took an ugly turn by suggesting that foreigners might be deployed to tamper with the results of the election, as shown in this video of his speech which was uploaded by PKS TV (from 9:55 onwards):
“After you’ve voted for number three (Anies-Sandiaga), don’t go home straight away. Keep an eye out in your surroundings. If some weird individuals come to the polling station, try to greet him in Javanese. It turns out he can’t answer. Maybe he’s Sundanese? He can’t answer either. Try greeting him in Betawi Malay. He doesn’t understand? Maybe he’s Indonesian. Ask him, ‘where are you from?’ [in Bahasa Indonesia]. Turns out he can’t answer too,” Hidayat said.
Hidayat went on to say that even though this hypothetical foreigner might have an e-KTP (Indonesian ID card) on him, it could be fake and so Anies-Sandiaga supporters should photograph the suspected foreigner and report him to the authorities.
Hidayat provided absolutely no evidence that foreigners were or ever have been deployed to vote in Indonesian elections, nor did he specify what nationality of foreigners might supposedly be trying to infiltrate the Jakarta election. But netizens believe his speech was aimed specifically at perpetuating a completely unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Chinese nationals may be utilized to cast their votes for Ahok (who is himself an Indonesian of Chinese descent).
In fact, there are numerous articles circulating online by unverified “news” sources that perpetuate this theory.
If that’s what Hidayah meant, then his speech is just the latest in a long line of anti-Chinese conspiracy theories that have been widely discussed in Indonesia lately, including how there are apparently 10 million Chinese workers in Indonesia (there are actually 21,000) and how China is apparently exporting bacteria-contaminated chili seeds as a “biological weapon” against Indonesia.
What Hidayat doesn’t seem to remember when he made his speech is that Indonesians – including those in Jakarta – are a diverse people made up of various ethnicity groups. If PKS supporters are provoked to target specific ethnic groups for intimidation as a result of his speech, then racial tensions during the election are likely to get much worse.
