As Indonesia Votes, Jakarta Governor Battles Blasphemy Charge<br />15, 2017<br />JAKARTA, Indonesia — Tens of millions of Indonesians went to the polls Wednesday to elect provincial and local leaders,<br />but all eyes were on the capital, Jakarta, whose Christian governor is fighting for his political life in what is widely seen as a test of religious and ethnic tolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.<br />Both of Mr. Basuki’s opponents are Muslim and Javanese: Anies Baswedan, a former minister of higher education, who polls indicate is in second place after a late surge,<br />and Agus Yudhoyono, a former Army officer and son of a former president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<br />Mr. Basuki, widely known by his nickname Ahok, is only the second non-Muslim governor of Jakarta,<br />and if he wins, he will be the first non-Muslim to be directly elected to the post.<br />She said that Mr. Basuki did a good job in office but added, "He doesn’t have the right to speak about the Quran."<br />Still, the governor has no lack of support among Muslims, who make up the majority of voters in Jakarta.<br />The governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is ethnic Chinese, is leading in the polls<br />but has been hobbled by a criminal trial on a charge of blasphemy against Islam, in connection with remarks about a Quran verse that he made last year.<br />Two other candidates, also nationally known figures, are running for governor of Jakarta,<br />and many analysts and pollsters expect a second-round runoff to be held in April, which would probably heighten tensions in the capital, a city of 10 million.
