I Gede Winasa

May 16th, 2008, in News, by

I Gede Winasa Confusion reigns as to whether Bali gubernatorial candidate I Gede Winasa is Muslim or Hindu, or both.

Dual Religion

Several times protests have been recently staged in Bali over the candidacy of independent I Gede Winasa for governor of Bali 2008-2013, on accusations that he changes his religious affiliation depending on circumstance.

Villagers from Winasa’s home town of Tegalcangkring approached the Bali Legislative Council to inform legislators that Winasa has two religions, they being Hinduism and Islam.

They claimed that Winasa affirmed himself to be a Hindu in his winning bid for office as Regent of Jembrana, yet when he married the Javanese Muslim Ratna Ani Lestari in Banyuwangi, East Java he put himself down as a Moslem. jakartapost

I Gede Winasa
I Gede Winasa

And a few days later dozens of Aliansi Muda Hindu Indonesia (AMHI) members protested outside the offices of the Bali Electoral Office (KPU) over the issue. Aksi Wayan Suantika of the AMHI complained:

In Banyuwangi he’s Muslim but in Jembrana he’s Hindu.

However AA Gede Oka Wisnumurti of the KPU says a candidate’s religious affiliation is neither here nor there and the KPU will not investigate the matter. But, according to KPU records Winasa is a Hindu, he says. okezone

Double Trouble

I Gede Winasa’s politician wife Ratna Ani Lestari, the Regent of Banyuwangi, was herself beset by protests in 2006, when thousands of people were brought out onto the streets by Islamic organisations in Banyuwangi against her. The protestors accused Ratna of blasphemy against Islam, and some were heard to complain that her husband was a Balinese Hindu.

Bali Election

The other main candidates for Bali governor, Cokorde Budi Suryawan from Golkar, and Made Mangku Pastika from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), appear to be almost certainly Hindus, 100%.


18 Comments on “I Gede Winasa”

  1. rizali says:

    Talk abput pluralism in bali only applicable to free sex, homosex, drugs, and such a thing.

    When it come to religious, it turn out bali is not so tolerant.

    Beat yourself blind!!!!

  2. Rambutan says:

    When it come to religious, it turn out bali is not so tolerant.

    WHy should Bali be any different from the rest of Indonesia??

  3. Lairedion says:

    rizali,

    The Balinese are only protecting the true Mojopahit legacy against aggressive Islamic influences. Is Java not enough for you?

  4. Neil of Newcastle says:

    Oy veh, is this ‘dwi fungsi’ or what!? Full power to the tolerant face of islamhindubudaya-ism, I say.

  5. Kiwibali says:

    Why does bali have to be different from the other part of indonesia? If everyone else aint that tolerant with people with different religious affiliations as their leader.

    Would indonesia elected a christian, hindu or budhist as the president?? No, because the majority of the population is muslim. same thing in Bali the majority of the popultaion is hindu, so its reasonable for them to elect someone they can relate to, another hindu. I came to accept this, people want someone that they can relate to and put their trust upon him/her, most of the time religion does come into play.

    The Balinese are only protecting the true Mojopahit legacy against aggressive Islamic influences. Is Java not enough for you?

    Quite agree, the culture of bali has been challenged a number of times by the politicians in jakarta. Haven’t we heard the critcism by some of the Islamic parties about how Bali is degrading indonesia’s moral, by the practice of their culture. A culture that has gave bali its unique touch and beauty. Wouldn’t it be quite reasonable for Balinese people to elect someone that can protect their interest, instead of changing affiliations whenever they see an opening for personal gain, which could negate the people that has given their trust over his shouler.

    Talk abput pluralism in bali only applicable to free sex, homosex, drugs, and such a thing.

    i find this comment quite offensive. Are you trying to say that Bali is the only one with this kind of problem??? Are you saying other part of Indonesia doesnt experience this kind of problem???

    Until the country is truly secular, why do we need to put religion on our ID card, then the same thing will happen in EVERYPART of indonesia.

  6. aaronm says:

    WHy should Bali be any different from the rest of Indonesia??

    Why should it matter? The sooner people here stop worrying about who other people pray to/fornicate with/whatever, the sooner you can get on with worrying about the things that drag this place down.

  7. Rob says:

    My understanding is that by law he cannot be both Hindu and Muslim.

    Generally, the marriage law in Indonesia is thought to require the bride and groom to be of one religion. In most cases this is a formality rather then a commitment to changing religions on a permanent basis.

    But wouldn’t this issue be resolved with a simple declaration that he is one or the other. This he seems to have done as the records kept at the KPU state that he has identified as a Hindu.

    Can a Hindu, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Confucianist become the President of Indonesia? Yes, why not? The Constitution does not say that they cannot!

    Similarly, the Constitution states that the President has to be “orang Indonesia asli” which some are trying to assert means that the President must be an indigenous Indonesian and therefore cannot be an Indonesian of Chinese, Arabic, or Indian heritage, but in contrast the vast majority of Indonesians would interpret this provision to now mean being born in Indonesia and holding Indonesian citizenship!

    Will this ever happen? Who knows but perhaps a candidate will come forward that so captures the imagination that it might just happen. Whoever, thought that the US for example would have the opportunity to elect a President of African heritage by way of Indonesia?

  8. kiwibali says:

    Can a Hindu, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Confucianist become the President of Indonesia? Yes, why not? The Constitution does not say that they cannot!

    yes the constitution doesnt say that the religions mentioned above cannot be elected as president. i am merely referring to the social preferences of the voters. Religion is still an important aspect of our everyday lives, and because of this will always be, consciously or un-consciously, used as one of the fundamental factors in electing their representative.

    the day when Indonesia disregard religion as a basis for their campaign will be the day Indonesia will wake up from its long slumber.
    I still remember when Megawati was running for president for the first time, one bloody politician attacked her, merely because she was seen praying in one of the Hindu temple!. man was there an uproar back in then.

  9. Syonan says:

    One’s religion is not important but the prosperity of the country and the people is the most important factor. Its time for our people (Indonesians) to realize this!

  10. gigi says:

    the day when Indonesia disregard religion as a basis for their campaign will be the day Indonesia will wake up from its long slumber.

    Even Americans are yet to prove themselves on that front. Imagine a non-Christian President of the US of A. Better yet, imagine a Muslim candidate for the US presidency. Having a good laugh, huh?

  11. Mach Jabber says:

    @ gigi
    Isn’t America quite conservative religion-wise by the global standard? In a relatively recent survey, three out of five of Americans claim that religion is an important aspect of life. Compare that to Japan’s 1 out of 10 or England’s 3 out of 10.

    [link]

    On that subject, Chile’s president, Michelle Bachelet, had proclaimed her irreligiosity publicly last year— a milestone for the freethinking community.

  12. timdog says:

    Mach jabber – I believe the US certainly is conservative when it comes to religion – one of the uglier aspects of the current Democratic candidate race has been the string of rather pathetic attempts to encourage the idea that Obama might be a Muslim! Ridiculous I know, but I read recently that as many as 20% of Americans believe that he is a Muslim (his middle name is Hussein after all) – and many commentators suggest that it will be this rather than the colour of his skin that might lose him the election if he gets the nomination…

    In the UK too, possibly the least religious nation in Europe, Tony Blair was stopped by his advisors from attending Catholic mass with his (Catholic) wife shortly after becoming prime minister. Despite the fact that it was well-known that he was Catholic in all but name it was considered too politically sensitive for him to convert from Church of England until he left power… he formally joined the Catholic church recently – as someone said, I wouldn’t like to be the priest taking his first confession… 😉

    Chile’s president – a milestone indeed!

  13. Lairedion says:

    Ibu gigi yth.,

    Why is it necessary for you to end your comment with statements like

    Having a good laugh, huh?

    Do you always feel the need you’ve got something to prove? Were you harassed in your childhood?

  14. Mach Jabber says:

    Indeed, America is religious. A fact plenty just can’t believe- I blame Hollywood in that part. 😀 I thought it’s quite the notorious urban myth that all Christians in the west (which, of course, somehow must be represented by the States) are all de facto atheists? 😉

    And from what I heard, is the least religious nation in Europe not either Sweden or the Czech Republic? Though yes, virtually nothing can be said about UK and religion aside of several numbers of Sharia furore (and the Arcbishop of Canterbury’s infamous support).

  15. I am fortunate to inform you that my western country, Portugal, couldn’t care less about the lack of religion from the leaders of the country. Being Catholicism the religion of the majority of the Portuguese population, we had at least two recent Presidents – Mário Soares and Jorge Sampaio (both elected for two mandates each) – who were self-declared agnostics. That didn’t stop people from electing them. In fact, people here tend to follow the Presidential campaigns in the USA with some amusement because of the importance that religion seems to have in American politics.
    I guess this makes the life of our politicians harder… They can’t say that the Lord is on their side, as the American Presidents like to do. By the way, this reminds me of a funny Genesis song…

  16. Mach Jabber says:

    @ Joao Paulo Esperanca

    Fantastic. Europe and the Eastern Asia sure grow up fast.

    Now it’s the Middle East and America I worry about. Oh, and Indonesia.

  17. Odinius says:

    The US is very, very religious in comparison to other developed societies. Yet it somehow has managed to be religious while separating religion from any state institutions.

    Because the US is very similar to Indonesia in a lot of ways (sociologically), this could work in Indonesia as well.

    Neither Indonesia nor America are likely to ever be as agnostic as Western Europe.

  18. Zecky says:

    Because the US is very similar to Indonesia in a lot of ways (sociologically), this could work in Indonesia as well.

    That’s actually quite interesting, I’ve never made that comparison before – perhaps it explains why Indonesians hate USA so much? Similarities clash?

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