EAST KALIMANTAN -- MUSLIM/SECULAR COALITION WINS

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001985 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/28/2018 TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID SUBJECT: EAST KALIMANTAN -- MUSLIM/SECULAR COALITION WINS GUBERNATORIAL RACE REF: A. JAKARTA 1020 ¶B. JAKARTA 801 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A coalition of Muslim and secular party candidates won East Kalimantan's gubernatorial race on October 23, according to quick counts. The coalition defeated the Islamic-oriented Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which had racked up wins in earlier regional elections. A relatively lightly populated region located on Borneo Island in central Indonesia, East Kalimantan is resource rich and has a tradition of Islamic-tinged politics. END SUMMARY. A VICTOR IN EAST KALIMANTAN RACE ¶2. (SBU) A coalition of Muslim and secular parties has won East Kalimantan's governor's race. In the second round of the race held on October 23, Awang Faroek Ishak and his vice-governor candidate won. Ishak was supported by a 14-member coalition which included the following parties: -- PAN (National Mandate Party); -- PPP (United Development Party); and, -- PD (Democratic Party--President Yudhoyono's party). WELL-KNOWN ISLAMIC-ORIENTED PARTY DEFEATED ¶3. (U) The mixed coalition defeated a well-known Islamic party. The PAN team won handily over a coalition led by the PKS (the Islamic-oriented Prosperous Justice Party). Quick count results indicated that the PAN-led team had 56% of the vote and the PKS-led team had 44%. The Indonesian Election Commission is slated to announce the official election results in November. FIRST ROUND SPARKS CONTROVERSY ¶4. (SBU) The first round of the race was held in May and was controversial. PAN and PKS groupings knocked out other contenders, who were supported by political party heavyweights Golkar (Vice President Kalla's party) and PDI-P (the Indonesian Party of Democratic Struggle, former president Megawati's party). The race in May between PAN and PKS candidates was close--PAN led with 29% to PKS' 26%. PAN launched a lawsuit right after the first round results were in, asserting that there was no need for a second round because it had won the race. After various legal permutations which only ended in mid-October, the courts decided that there indeed had to be a second round. (Note: Ref A contains DepPol/C's first-hand report re the first round of the election.) A RESOURCE RICH REGION ¶5. (C) According to sources, Ishak won because he and the most prominent party supporting him, PAN, were perceived as more moderate than the PKS-supported grouping. Ishak's victory is a bit of a setback for PKS, which had done well earlier this year in winning the West Java and North Sumatra gubernatorial races. A relatively thinly populated region with only three million residents, East Kalimantan--which is the country's second largest region in terms of area--is awash in resources, including timber and minerals. Without large communities of non-Muslims, it has a reputation as having Islamic-tinged politics. HUME