The puzzle of Rusdi Kirana and Islamic politics

IF REPUTABLE polls are to be believed, Indonesias Islamic parties are headed for their worst result ever in this weeks national elections, with four of the five Islamic parties predicted to lose support. According to the final pre-election surveys of Indikator and Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, the total Islamic-party vote is 21 per cent and 24 per cent respectively, well down on the 29 per cent gained in 2009 and much lower than the 43 per cent in Indonesias first democratic election in 1955. Compared to their 2009 results, four of the five Islamic parties have shown falls of between 10 and 70 per cent in polls over the past eighteen months.