Commission on Violence Against Women Lambastes FPI Efforts to Oust Christian Ward Chief

The Jakarta Globe, October 28, 2013.


The National Commission on Violence Against Women said on Monday that the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) should stop using religion to try to force Lenteng Agung ward chief Susan Jasmine Zulkifli to step down.

“They can’t use that claim in this country,” Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of the Commission, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday. “The constitution gives no room for discrimination.”

The FPI said it planned to begin conducting a Koran study in the ward, in an attempt to influence more people to get behind their efforts to force out the Christian ward chief.

“We will do it once a week, or at least once a month,” FPI Jakarta chapter secretary Novel Ba’mumin told Indonesian news portal Tempo.co on Sunday. “We were invited by residents from every neighborhood unit, to make them realize this.”

Some residents have been staging protests against Susan’s appointment, hopping to have her replaced by a Muslim chief. One protestor, named Ruslan, said that Susan had violated Islamic teachings by greeting her constituents with the words “good morning, selamat pagi, bonjour,” rather than with an Arabic greeting.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi echoed the protestors, suggesting that Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo should transfer her to a non-Muslim area because of the dissent.

Joko said that he would only replace an urban ward chief if he or she performed poorly, and Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said that Gamawan “needs to learn the constitution.”

“I am still learning the constitution,” Gamawan conceded.

Some Lenteng Agung residents, however, have expressed confidence in their ward chief.

“There’s no need for people outside to demonstrate against Susan,” Halim Mahfudz, who lives in the ward, told Tempo on Monday. “She works well. So let it be like this, no more demonstrations.”

Masruchah said that the Jakarta administration should be strict and steadfast in its decision.

“They considered Susan to have the appropriate capacity to be the urban ward chief and they should not replace her because of pressure from the FPI,” Masruchah said.



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