The last few months have been a particularly tense time for Indonesia, with political battles fueling displays of religious intolerance and vice-versa, mostly centered around the Jakarta election and Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s ongoing blasphemy case.
During that time, President Joko Widodo has managed to mostly stay out of the fray, publicly at least, but yesterday he made comments that indicate he believes the recent conflicts were due in part to Indonesian democracy going “too far”.
While speaking at an event for senior Hanura Party officials in Bogor yesterday, Jokowi said many people had been questioning him about Indonesia’s system of democracy lately.
“Many have asked me, has our democracy gone too far? I say yes, our democracy has gone too far,” the president said as quoted by Kompas.
Explaining what he meant by that, Jokowi said that democracy goes too far when it allows for the political articulation of extreme positions such as radicalism, fundamentalism, sectarianism, terrorism and liberalism (!), which are contrary to the state ideology of Pancasila.
The president went on to say that such a situation was allowing for growing polarization and attacks on race, ethnicity and religion which could potentially divide the nation. The solution, he said, was strong law enforcement.
“The key in a democracy that had gone too far is the rule of law. The authorities should be firm, do not hesitate,” Jokowi said.
