Banda Aceh, NU Online
A plan to test election candidates in Indonesia's Aceh province for their knowledge of the Koran will go ahead despite objections from national parties, officials said Wednesday.
"We will implement the local ordinance on political parties requiring all legislative candidates to take the Koran proficiency test," Aceh Electoral Commission chief Salam Paroh tolf AFP.<>
The test will gauge the candidates' knowledge of Islamic rituals and their ability to recite verses from the Muslim holy book.
Only those who pass will be able to contest elections next April in the province, the most religiously conservative area of the generally moderate Muslim country.
National Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto has reportedly called on the provincial authorities to exempt candidates from the more secular national parties.
Sayed Fuad Zakaria, an Acehnese member of the secular and national Golkar party, said the provincial authorities had no right to test candidates' knowledge of a religious text.
"We have a right not to perform the test. The commission cannot ban us from contesting the election just because we haven't sat the Koran test," he said.
But an official with the local Aceh People's Party, Thamrin Ananda, said the tests must be applied across the board.
"We do hope that the Aceh electoral commission will be fair by requiring all candidates from both local and national parties to perform the Koran proficiency test. Justice must be done," he said.
Aceh is gradually implementing Islamic Sharia law under a broad autonomy package granted by the central government in 2001 to pacify demands for independence in the staunchly Muslim region.
It also has a religious police force whose task is overseeing Islamic regulations on dress, alcohol, gambling and "immoral acts." (dar)
A plan to test election candidates in Indonesia's Aceh province for their knowledge of the Koran will go ahead despite objections from national parties, officials said Wednesday.
"We will implement the local ordinance on political parties requiring all legislative candidates to take the Koran proficiency test," Aceh Electoral Commission chief Salam Paroh tolf AFP.<>
The test will gauge the candidates' knowledge of Islamic rituals and their ability to recite verses from the Muslim holy book.
Only those who pass will be able to contest elections next April in the province, the most religiously conservative area of the generally moderate Muslim country.
National Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto has reportedly called on the provincial authorities to exempt candidates from the more secular national parties.
Sayed Fuad Zakaria, an Acehnese member of the secular and national Golkar party, said the provincial authorities had no right to test candidates' knowledge of a religious text.
"We have a right not to perform the test. The commission cannot ban us from contesting the election just because we haven't sat the Koran test," he said.
But an official with the local Aceh People's Party, Thamrin Ananda, said the tests must be applied across the board.
"We do hope that the Aceh electoral commission will be fair by requiring all candidates from both local and national parties to perform the Koran proficiency test. Justice must be done," he said.
Aceh is gradually implementing Islamic Sharia law under a broad autonomy package granted by the central government in 2001 to pacify demands for independence in the staunchly Muslim region.
It also has a religious police force whose task is overseeing Islamic regulations on dress, alcohol, gambling and "immoral acts." (dar)
