Muhammadiyah, Identity Politics and Presidential Election
Fajar Riza Ul Haq
Soekarno and Bengkulu have historical ties with Muhammadiyah. The exile of the Proclamator in this city (1938-1942) introduced him to the leader of Muhammadiyah Bengkulu, Hasan Din.
Close relations between the two figures can be read from Sukarno\'s willingness to become a teacher at Muhammadiyah schools and even being involved in the Muhammadiyah Bengkulu Education and Teaching Council. On June 1, 1943, Soekarno married Hasan\'s daughter, Fatmawati. From the womb of the daughter of the Muhammadiyah figure, Guntur, Megawati, Rachmawati, Sukmawati and Guruh were born.
At the event commemorating the 96th birthday of First Lady Fatmawati Soekarno, in Jakarta, Tuesday (05/02/2019), Chairperson of Aisyiyah\'s Central Executive Board, Siti Noordjannah Djohantini, mentioned Fatmawati as the First Lady and Nation Mother born to the Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah family, which is close to the progressive color of Islam and Indonesianness.
She had contributed greatly to Muslims and to all groups with different religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. On the occasion that was also attended by Megawati, the eldest women\'s organization in Indonesia presented a book entitled Advancing Muslim Women: A Piece of History of Fatmawati and Aisyiyah-Muhammadiyah (Suara Muhammadiyah, 6/2/2019).
This historical tie is the background of the election of Bengkulu city as the host of the 51st Muhammadiyah Tanwir Session on Feb. 15-17, 2019.
"We feel at home. Of course, we are proud to be a part of Bengkulu, besides the fact that Bengkulu also has historical relations with Muhammadiyah. Also, seeing the development of Muhammadiyah in Bengkulu in the field of education, which has now become a reference," said Chairman of Muhammadiyah Central Executive Board Haedar Nashir, late last November, in a coordination meeting with the ranks of the Bengkulu Provincial Government.
The tanwir meeting, which was held ahead of the simultaneous election this April, brings the theme Enlightening Religion Practice. Apparently, the selection of this topic was based on Muhammadiyah\'s concern to present a religious attitude that is optimistic, humanist and oriented toward progress in the midst of a wave of populism politics and the people\'s division towards the presidential election. According to Haedar, the tanwir forum is expected to become a meeting point for all the positive energy of all Muhammadiyah leaders to enlighten the lives of the people and the nation.
Meritocracy
Among the strategic thoughts formulated at the Muhammadiyah Conference in Makassar in 2015, there was the commitment of Muhammadiyah to campaign for the wasthatiyah (middle) religiosity,
prioritizing dialogue in addressing differences, avoiding takfiri\'s attitude (accusing different parties as infidels) and building a culture of meritocracy. This organization also preaches in order to transmit the values of togetherness and human solidarity and calls for improvement in meritocracy-based governance.
"If you want to build a modern country, yes, don\'t be based on group criteria, let alone belong to certain groups," Haedar said recently.
The principle of meritocracy provides the widest opportunity for every individual that enables him to develop all his potential so that he contributes to the progress of society (Mahbubani, 2008). The spirit of meritocracy upholds hard work, achievement and equality. It is not compromising with dynastic politics and the dominance of certain groups. The glory of Brazilian soccer is a mirror of the success of meritocracy in the field of sports. Muhammadiyah\'s commitment to building a meritocracy culture in the public sphere reflects the persistence of the meritocratic leadership system within Muhammadiyah itself.
However, the tidal wave of global populism that blends with the wave of Islamization in the domestic sphere and along with the strengthening of identity political sentiments has threatened the meritocratic values voiced by Muhammadiyah in the realm of statehood.
"The problem with our politics is that we have shifted from arguing about economic policy to arguing about identity," Fukuyama (2018) said in an interview.
It is difficult to enforce a meritocracy system if the flow of identity politics has strengthened the parochialism wall and strengthened group superiority. This is the phenomenon of the rise of new tribalism, in Fukuyama\'s terms, which rejects the meritocracy system. Strengthening identity politics will turn off egalitarian principles and abort the meritocracy system.
Presidential election
The momentum of the election of the presidential election, legislative members and regional representative members, has a legitimacy basis to test the level of citizenship political awareness in building an egalitarian and meritocratic culture. Several surveys show an increase in religious sentiment in the election of public officials. The Indonesian Survey Institute recorded an upward trend in political intolerance from 2010 to 2017. Lately, the issue is no longer limited to confronting the leaders of "Muslim vs. non-Muslim", but has led to exclusion politics such as "Islamic vs. more Islamic" and "religious vs. more religious".
The space for public conversation in this political year continues to be filled with bursts of agitation, provocation and even lies. We also see how social media is so easily used to fabricate issues of hatred and political hostility, which are largely at the center of the strengthening of identity politics and the issue of injustice vis a vis the government. The existence of critical forces and balancers, both in the House of Representatives and outside the House (media, individuals and civil groups), is a necessity in the democratic system.
However, the political attitude of checks and balances would be destructive if identity politics sentiments are dragged and reinforces it as a form of resistance to tyranny that befalls "Muslims".
Shackling the complexity and differences in the political aspirations of Muslims into a single political aspiration is clearly misleading.
The fact is that every presidential candidate enjoys support from followers of Islamic organizations. The Populi Center survey (Jan. 20-29, 2019) revealed the high level of Muhammadiyah citizens\' support for Jokowi-Ma\'ruf Amin at 72.1 percent. Those who support Prabowo-Sandiaga amount to 20.9 percent. The NU support for Jokowi is 56.1 percent. The remaining 27.8 percent choose Prabowo. Meanwhile, the majority of Islamic Unity (Persis) make their political choice to candidate pair 02 by 64.3 percent. The presidential pair number 01 receives support of 35.7 percent. Interesting, but this is not surprising, 100 percent of Islam Defender Front (FPI) members choose Prabowo.
Muhammadiyah\'s neutrality in facing the upcoming election is indeed non-negotiable and the citizens of this union have absolute political independence. The magnitude of Muhammadiyah\'s support for Jokowi-Ma\'ruf, referring to the temporary survey above, does not mean that this organization is taking side. What is interesting is even the presence of vice presidential candidate figure of Ma\'ruf Amin, who is a senior figure in Nahdlatul Ulama, who does not "disturb" the convenience of the political choices of Muhammadiyah citizens.
There are many contributing factors. One of them is the political maturity of Muhammadiyah citizens in choosing national leaders by prioritizing the principle of inclusivity and meritocracy, which is inherent in Jokowi\'s figure.
The political attitude of the organization should cover the diversity of political aspirations of its citizens without sacrificing the khitah. Political choice differences among members should not undermine the solidarity of the organization and brotherhood. To be sure, Muhammadiyah is very concerned that the election results give birth to a leadership that is able to build policy instruments that enable people to carry out social mobility based on a system of meritocracy and egalitarian culture in politics, economics and culture (Muhammadiyah Official News, 2015: 120).
Hopefully, this tanwir session will give birth to smart thoughts and strategic programs so that they become an oasis and glue for our national life. Muhammadiyah is the guardian of the nation. Have a good session! (Fajar Riza Ul Haq, Executive, Council of Law and Human Rights of Muhammadiyah Central Executive Board)
