Indonesia: Presidential election results

Indonesia is about to announce the results of its recent election of a new President. This is the next chapter in the progress of this nation to democratically elected government.

The election process is one thing, accepting the results is another. At the moment both candidates are claiming victory in different areas, and the outgoing President is calling on all parties to accept the result. There are real fears that the result could trigger violence in the nation, as rivals refuse to accept the result.

The party of the man expected to be named as winner, Jokowi, is made up mostly of non-Muslims, so the potential for sectarian troubles is real. Many Muslims fear that is he is elected, he will favour non-Muslims and this will see many become heads of state institutions, and therefore highly influential.

Jokowi’s current deputy as Governor of Jakarta is Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, famously known as “Ahok”, a Chinese Christian, who is slated to take over as Governor of the nation’s capital city once Mr Widodo becomes president.

As Jakarta’s Governor, Jokowi introduced a system of auctioning the positions of district officers, resulting in Susan Jasmine, a Christian lady, becoming the Lurah (a civil servant as head of a district) of Lenteng Agung in South Jakarta, angering many Muslims, who have demanded her removal as it was deem insulting for Muslims.

Pray for Indonesia as it faces this time of transition, for the witness of Christians to be grace and peace-filled, inclusive of the other, for God’s man to be appointed and God’s work to continue to be done in this land in His way.