Indonesia Political Risk Analyst

Kevin O’Rourke

Reformasi

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>President Joko Widodo had been expected in recent days to select former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud Mahmodin for his vice-presidential running mate, but instead on the evening of 9 August he abruptly named Clerics Council (MUI) Chair Ma'ruf Amin for the role. </p><p>Amin is a senior figure in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Islamic group known ordinarily as pluralist and tolerant, but within NU Amin stands out as an arch-conservative who has repeatedly taken hard-line and discriminatory…</p>

President Joko Widodo had been expected in recent days to select former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud Mahmodin for his vice-presidential running mate, but instead on the evening of 9 August he abruptly named Clerics Council (MUI) Chair Ma'ruf Amin for the role. Amin is a senior figure in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Islamic group known ordinarily as pluralist and tolerant, but within NU Amin stands out as an arch-conservative who has repeatedly taken hard-line and discriminatory…

Widodo Makes Worst Possible VP Choice