Skip to main content

Democracy and Islam


Vice President Jusuf Kalla said democracy is a way to attain a country's prosperity. Islamic teachings are expected to support the implementation of democracy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Democracy in every country is determined by its system, its culture and historical back ground.


"The objective of a country is to achieve prosperity," Kalla said at the official opening of the second meeting of the Southeast Asian Forum on Islam and Democracy at the vice president's office, today (13/8).According to Kalla, democracy is a system found in many countries such as Indonesia, the United States, Europe, and Korea. Moslems in ASEAN, must respect democracy and diversity. Kalla further said that the Moslem community is currently the biggest population in Indonesia. "However, quantity is not more important than the values they hold," he said. He believes that Islam and democracy have always been interesting topics of discussion, especially when Indonesian leaders refers to democracy in their leadership. He cited Soekarno, known for his guided democracy, and Suharto with his Pancasila democracy.

"Today we have an open democracy," he said.Kalla praised the international meeting, which was attended by intellectuals, and hoped that it can create conformity. International Center for Islam and Pluralism executive-director, M. Syafi'i Anwar, said the meeting was aimed at strengthening the NGOs' network and Moslem intellectuals in ASEAN. The first meeting was held in Manila, the Philippines. According to him, Islam teaches peace and justice, therefore Moslems in ASEAN must be friendly and respect other faiths, despite the diversity. "Moslems must respect human rights and the existing regulations, " he said.

The meeting was attended by participants from seven ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Filipina, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, and Timor Leste.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greenpeace boycott Palm oil products Duta Palma

Environmental organization Greenpeace India has demanded that all Indian palm oil importers and corporate consumers immediately stop palm oil sourcing from Indonesian companies like Duta Palma who make palm oil by destroying forests and tiger habitat in Indonesia. An investigative report issued by Greenpeace Indonesia released on Thursday links India's growing palm oil imports and corporate apathy to Duta Palma's destruction of hundreds of acres of Indonesian rainforests and tiger habitat in complete disregard of Indonesian government&# 39;s moratorium on such activities in the rainforest. Big Indian corporates like Ruchi Soya, Adani -Wilmar, Godrej Industries, Parle, Britannia are among many who use Indonesian palm oil in their products on a large scale.  "Duta Palma's dirty oil could well be entering into their supply chains. Yet, so far, no Indian company has taken any visible steps to clean up their supply chain, to delink their brands from the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australia acknowledge INDONESIAN not a terrorist state

INDONESIA, the world's most populous Muslim nation and the site of more Australian deaths at the hands of terrorists than any other country, will not be included in a list of 10 countries targeted for toughened visa screening rules aimed at thwarting terror attacks. As Kevin Rudd released his government's long-awaited counter-terrorism white paper yesterday, The Australian has learnt that Indonesia, Pakistan and India will not be among the 10 countries singled out for for toughened visa screening. This is despite those countries playing host to the overwhelming number of regional terror attacks.Yemen and Somalia -- identified in the white paper as the emerging epicentres of radical Islamic terrorism -- will be included.The white paper fingers home grown extremists -- as opposed to transnational groups such as al-Qa'ida -- as the main terror threat now confronting Australia.The Prime Minister said the threat of terrorism had become a "persistent and permanent feature...
Post a Comment
Read more

Achievement of Indonesian police, corrupt

Indonesia's notoriously corrupt National Police are back in hot water after a former tax official supposedly under lock and key while awaiting trial for corruption and bribery charges was photographed by a sharp-eyed Jakarta Globe photographer at a Bali tennis match. The publication of the Globe's photos of Gayus Tambunan, wearing a wig and eyeglasses, led to nearly a week of denials that Tambunan, a mid-ranking official who is accused of paying billions of rupiah in bribes to judges, prosecutors and police, had ever been out of his prison cell. Adj. Cmdr Ketut Budiman said in a text message to reporters: "Where do these rumors come from? Gayus is still inside his cell and I have confirmed this with the security unit. This allegation is totally groundless."   Another official said Tambunan was "in the custody of the district court and any leave by the defendant must first be approved by prosecutors. " Tambunan's lawyer said it couldn't have been...
Post a Comment
Read more