Note: In our 55th episode, we talk about what happened with this episode, which we re-uploaded under a different title. The short story is we’ve received feedback that the original episode was too offensive for general Indonesian sensibilities given its strong language. In the interest of keeping the important conversation going, we’ve taken out the profanity and re-uploaded the episode, which is the version here.
In this episode, we share our strong feelings about Jokowi’s pick for his vice-president, Ma’ruf Amin, a 75-year-old conservative Muslim cleric who’s known to espouse extremist and intolerant views when it comes to minorities, in particular the LGBT community as well as other ethnic & religious minorities. We discuss the problematic issues behind this decision, which we believe Jokowi and his coalition made in order to appease and appeal to the far-right Islamic base — an effort that in our opinion will severely alienate young progressive voters and potentially push them to the side of Prabowo and his vice-presidential pick, the current vice-governor of Jakarta, Sandiaga Uno. Our former guests Rocky Intan, Afu Utami, and Febriana Firdaus share their thoughts and reactions to the news, while we also talk about the potential for non-voting and/or protest votes affecting next year’s presidential elections. Jokowi’s pick has given a lot of Indonesian progressives a really tough decision to make in April 2019.
Thanks for listening!
For those interested in learning more about the topic, we’ve provided links to resources as well as other recommended readings.
Who is Ma’ruf Amin, Jokowi’s running mate? — courtesy of The Jakarta Post
Indonesia: Vice Presidential Candidate Has Anti-Rights Record — courtesy of Human Rights Watch
MUI wants law to ban LGBT activities — under Amin’s leadership, the Indonesian Ulema Council has discriminated against the LGBT
MUI chief accused of bias for issuing recommendation on Ahok — courtesy of The Jakarta Post
Political compromise behind Indonesia’s vice presidential nominees: experts respond — courtesy of The Conversation
Pilpres 2019: Ulama Sana versus Ulama Sini — the dangerous game Jokowi’s playing with the far-right Islamic movement
Golput ‘bisa menggerus’ perolehan suara Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin di Pilpres 2019 — the threat of non-voting and protest votes
I’m a Gay Man and I’m Not Voting in Indonesia’s 2019 Election — courtesy of Vice
MUSIC CREDITS:
SOUL HIGH by RYAN LITTLE
MONTMARTRE by JAHZAAR
NIGHT OWL and THE GREAT by BROKE FOR FREE