A recent poll, reported by Asean Today on 14 June 2020, shows that Indonesians want
democracy, but are "unsatisfied with the way democracy currently functions-or doesn"t function-in the country".
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research (WWR), comments: "The results of this poll are not really surprising and given that it took place during the COVID-19 crisis, it is easy to imagine that other countries would show similar results; many voters are unhappy with the slow and insufficient responses of their governments. However, for Indonesia there is an additional layer, namely the whole issue of centralization vs. decentralization. Given that many consider the central government leadership too indecisive, the shift to decentralization has received something of a boost. However, this is a risky path as was shown recently in West Sumatra, when a provincial governor demanded the
ban of a bible app in the Minang language, as reported the Jakarta Post on 5 June 2020. The federal communications ministry followed suit, despite the guarantee of freedom of religion in Indonesia"s Constitution and despite the country"s very own founding ideology, Pancasila. This is an important reminder that the level of freedom granted to Christians very much depends on decisions made by local leaders and (to a certain extent) the courts."
Thomas Muller continues: "Although not directly related, it is interesting to see how quickly legal guarantees can be amended or ignored by stirring up emotions and promoting a feeling that the country"s majority religion (and for Malaysia: Malay ethnic majority) is under threat. A recent report by New Mandala, published on 8 June 2020, compared the anti-DAP campaign in Malaysia (leading to the
fall of the government, reported by WWR on 16 March 2020) with the anti-Ahok protests of 2016, showing that the
potential for unrest and "˜Muslim majoritarianism"* is alive and well in both countries."
* "˜Muslim majoritarianism" refers to a movement among the Muslim majority population which aims to take back governing power from a perceived dominating minority group.
