World

Indonesian election season is a gauge of rise of political Islam

By Kanupriya Kapoor and Agustinus Beo Da Costa
People wait to pray at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 7, 2018. REUTERS/Beawiharta

JAKARTA (Reuters) - About 100 residents of a gritty commercial district of Indonesia's capital listen intently as a man roars into a microphone: "Are you ready to change our president? Are you ready for new leadership?"

But this is not a political rally. Dressed in white robes and a turban, Novel Bamukmin of the Jakarta chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a hardline Islamist group, addresses evening prayers in a mosque.

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