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Indonesian Muslims told not to vote female as president
Several Indonesian Islamic clerics have issued an fatwa telling Muslims not to vote for a female presidential candidate, reports said Friday. Incumbent Megawati Sukarno-putri is the only woman among five candidates for the July 5 poll, when Indonesians for the first time will directly elect their leader. The clerics, members in East Java province of Indonesiaâs largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), met Thursday to en-dorse the candidacy of former miliary chief Wiranto and his running mate Solahuddin Wahid, NUâs deputy head. âIt was noted that the prohibition on women to assume positions of leadership was no longer a question still in dispute but already something that has been generally accepted among Muslim clerics,â one of them, Anwar Iskandar, told Antara news agency. Megawatiâs party won the 1999 parliamentary election. But Islamic parties in the legislature, which at the time chose presidents, blocked her bid for the leadership â partly on the grounds of her sex. She was appointed vice-president and then became president in July 2001 after parliament sacked her erratic predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid. Despite Thursdayâs fatwa, analysts expect that the vote of NUâs claimed 40 million supporters will be split. NU leader Hasyim Muzadi is running for vice-president alongside Megawati. An NU official said the edict from the East Java clerics was not binding. âNU members are free to vote for any pair of candidates,â NU deputiy secretary general Bachari Ansori was quoted as saying by Antara. Koran Tempo in an editorial criticized the edict. âNot only does such a fatwa have no weight but the public can also consider it cheap,â the paper said. Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-06-05 |
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