If there’s anything to symbolize the tribal mentality many Indonesians have in the lead up to April’s election, it’s the derogatory name-calling between supporters of incumbent President Joko Widodo and challenger Prabowo Subianto.
For those who have kept themselves out of the vortex of hatred, the name calling has been a consistent feature during the campaign period for the upcoming election, but its origins can be traced back to the 2014 election (in which Jokowi also went up against Prabowo). Prabowo’s supporters have taken to calling Jokowi supporters by the derogatory nickname “cebong” (tadpoles), while Jokowi’s supporters refer to Prabowo supporters as “kampret” (microbat).
On the surface, the choice of animals may not sound too offensive in the context of English profanity, but kampret is a standard swear word in Jakarta and throughout Indonesia — almost on the same level as “damn” or “fuck”. Meanwhile, cebong more specifically alludes to President Jokowi’s hobby of raising tadpoles while he was the mayor of Solo and governor of Jakarta, so his supporters are likened to those tadpoles while Jokowi himself is sometimes referred to as “Raja Kodok” (Frog King).
Both cebong and kampret are also tiny-brained creatures.
But now, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the highest Islamic clerical body in the nation, wants to see an end to the immaturity with the election less than a month away.
“I see that those negative terms do not need to be maintained because they violate the principle of noble behavior,” MUI Foreign Relations Head Muhyidin Junaidi told reporters in Jakarta yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
“If we are not fond of the other side, then so be it, there’s no need to give them the predicate ‘cebong’ or ‘kampret’ or whatever else. That’s not commendable.”
Muhyidin did not say if MUI would issue a fatwa (religious edict) on the matter, only calling for Indonesians to ensure a peaceful and non-divisive election.
MUI’s plea echoes that of Prabowo’s running mate Sandiaga Uno’s statement in January, in which he banned campaign volunteers from calling their rivals cebong.
In an interview with CNN Indonesia last July, political analyst Wawan Masudi said cebong and kampret symbolize a lack of maturity in Indonesia’s young democracy.
“In a more mature democratic country, people battle each other on the level of ideas and policies to be implemented, not on the level of identity and labeling,” he said.
