Lessons from the Jakarta elections

Jakarta's governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (left), better known as "Ahok", with his wife Veronica (right) and son Nicholas show off their ink-stained fingers after casting their votes in Jakarta on February 15, 2017. - AFP

IF all you read is the Western media, you would probably frame the Jakarta gubernatorial elections in terms of the opposition towards incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as Ahok.

Over the past few months, protests, organised by hardline Islamists groups, have erupted in Jakarta against Ahok’s purported insult of a surah in the Quran,. The embattled politician was subsequently charged in court for blasphemy for his comments.