Thousands of
Indonesians gathered on Saturday at a mosque in central Jakarta, where
religious leaders urged them to support a Muslim candidate during next week's
contentious election to select the capital's governor.
Millions of
Jakarta residents head to the polls on Wednesday to pick the next governor of
the sprawling city, in a contest analysts say has shaped as a proxy fight ahead
of a presidential election in 2019.
Indonesia has
the world's largest Muslim population but recognizes six religions and is home
to hundreds of ethnic groups and adherents of traditional beliefs.
In Jakarta,
the Christian and ethnic Chinese incumbent, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, faces two
Muslim contenders - Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the son of former president
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and former education minister Anies Baswedan.
Purnama is in
the extraordinary situation of campaigning for election while he is on trial
for blasphemy, making weekly court appearances to defend himself against
charges of insulting the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
"On Feb.
15, we are happy to vote for a Muslim leader," one speaker, Maulana Kamal
Yusuf, told a crowd of men and women in white robes who had poured into the
vast Istiqlal mosque from the early hours for mass prayers.
"Jakarta
will be led by a Muslim leader who submits to the will of Allah," he
added, urging his listeners to choose Yudhoyono or Baswedan. "Jakarta will
be a religious city."
Security
around the mosque was tight, with armed military and police officers standing
guard.
Saturday is
the last day before a 'quiet period' in which candidates and their supporters
are barred from canvassing for votes.
Yusuf also
asked his audience to support Habib Rizieq, the head of hardline Muslim group
Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who has been reported to the police for
allegedly insulting the state ideology, Pancasila, and state symbols.
The
allegations against Rizieq "go against justice," a senior official of
the group has previously said.
Muslim groups
led by FPI have held rallies demanding that Purnama be jailed for the alleged
insult, a sensitive topic in a country where the population of 250 million is
mostly Muslim and Chinese-Indonesians officially make up just over 1 percent.
One of the
biggest rallies in November last year was attended by hundreds of thousands.
REUTERS
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