GOVERNOR-ELECT FROM ISLAMIC PARTY DISCUSSES PLANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000965 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS NSC FOR E. PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL ID SUBJECT: GOVERNOR-ELECT FROM ISLAMIC PARTY DISCUSSES PLANS FOR LARGEST PROVINCE REF: JAKARTA 939 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Pol/C met Ahmad Heryawan, the Governor-elect of West Java, Indonesia's largest province by population, on May 14. Heryawan attributed his surprise victory to a dogged campaign and an emphasis on economic issues. He said his administration will focus on development-related issues. Heryawan--who comes from PKS, an up-and-coming Islamic party--came off as a moderate, though he showed flashes of intolerance, including when he labeled an Islamic sect "deviant." Pol/C underscored the importance of religious freedom and protecting sect members from violence. END SUMMARY. REASONS FOR A SURPRISE VICTORY ¶2. (C) On May 14, Pol/C met Ahmad Heryawan, West Java's Governor-elect, in Bandung, the provincial capital. (Note: West Java is Indonesia's largest province by population with over 40 million residents.) The meeting occurred in an inexpensive hotel in the industrial/warehouse part of the city. Heryawan and his team from the Islamic-oriented Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) were bouviacked at the hotel, preparing for the June 13 inaugural. As Pol/C and Heryawan talked, assistants milled around, including many women wearing jilbabs (the Islamic head-covering popular in West Java). Pol/C asked Heryawan, 41, what he attributed his surprise victory in the election to. (Note: Heryawan was running third in the polls behind the incumbent governor and another candidate right before the April 13 election. He won handily.) ¶3. (C) Heryawan--who came off as very amiable--replied that both he and his running mate, the actor Dede Yusuf, had "simply worked extremely hard during the campaign." They had, for example, worked "from the early morning to late at night campaigning at markets, schools, and factories located at places all over the province." Heryawan added that the PKS had also made the economy an issue, stressing the need for more and better paying jobs. Voters, he said, were also very worried by high prices for food and energy, and PKS had promised to work to lower inflation. Asked about the importance of his running mate's notoriety as an actor, Heryawan nodded that that was a factor -- "everyone knows and likes Dede!" (Note: Heryawan has a less star-studded past: he is former teacher and a local legislator.) A CONSTRUCTIVE FOCUS ¶4. (C) When Pol/C asked about his administration's agenda, Heryawan came off as someone with constructive plans. He related that the PKS focus will be development and the economy. He also wanted to focus on improving educational opportunities as well as improving the province's infrastructure. PKS, he said, had some plans in these areas that would, if implemented, help the province in the long-term. He admitted that getting PKS's full agenda through the provincial legislature would be difficult, especially when the party is only the third largest with 15 percent of the seats. DOWNPLAYING ISLAM ¶5. (C) Throughout the conversation, Heryawan tended to downplay the importance of Islam and social issues. In discussing his party's agenda, he focused on development issues almost to the exclusion of Islam, save to say--when discussing anti-corruption efforts--that the party would work to maintain "a clean, Islamic image." JAKARTA 00000965 002 OF 002 ¶6. (C) Heryawan, however, showed some flashes of intolerance when Pol/C asked him about the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect (which has large communities in West Java). He said he had no position on whether the GOI should ban the group, but he added that he accepted claims that the group was "deviant" from Sunni orthodox Islamic precepts. Pol/C--noting that a town in West Java had just announced a local ban on the sect--commented that tolerance was important in a pluralistic society and sect members should not live in fear of violence. THE NEW FACE OF PKS ¶7. (C) As reviewed in Reftel, PKS has worked hard as a party to present an image of moderate pragmatism. Heryawan certainly conformed to that image. While clearly possessing good political skills, Heryawan came across as a bureaucrat and not at all like some sort of Islamist with a hard-line political agenda. That said, Pol/C heard reports that not all members of his camp are pragmatists in his mold, but rather that there are some who want to press "an Islamic plank" where possible. In any case, Heryawan was confident about PKS's political future, asserting that the party would do "very well" in upcoming gubernatorial races, including in East Kalimantan on May 26. HEFFERN