Presidential Run by Indonesian Cleric Would Be Referendum on Shariah Law
DENPASAR, Indonesia -- When, in May 1998, former President Suharto's 32-year rule came to an end, Indonesia, a secular nation with the world's largest Muslim population, started a democratization process that has been praised worldwide.
However, democracy has also opened the door for a previously dormant wing of radical Islam that wants to turn the country into an Islamic state.
The clash between the two could soon be played out in the voting booth if, as suggested late last month by Indonesian Mujahedin Council (MMI) spokesman Fauzan al-Anshori, radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir decides to run for president in the country's next election, slated for 2009.
"Bashir is considering the possibility," al-Anshori told Italian news agency AdnKronos International May 30. "He said that he wants to see what the people say first."
Bashir is a controversial figure. Accused of being the ideological leader of terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, the cleric is a firm believer that Indonesia should be ruled by the Islamic code of Shariah. He also heads the MMI, an umbrella group campaigning for the establishment of Islamic law.
Over the past few years, Bashir has been taken to court and accused of terrorist crimes twice. Yet he has never been convicted of anything more than immigration offenses and conspiracy.
He last left prison in June 2006, after serving 26 months for giving his blessing to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. His conviction has since been overturned by Indonesia's High Court.
On the day of his release, a smiling Bashir told reporters: "I thank Allah that I am free today. I call on all Muslims to unite behind one goal, which is the implementation of Shariah law."
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