Jeopardizing Transition: Freedom of Worship, the Power of Local Government, and Democratization in Indonesia

The paper was presented in the 2nd Annual Conference of Japan Association of Human Security Studies (JAHSS), in Aichi University, Nagoya, Japan, on September 29-30, 2012Protection of minority rights has always been a serious challenge to the consolidation of democracy in transitioning countries. Indonesia reach significant progress to democratization since the 1998, but the low progress of political culture, pluralism, respect to freedom, and human rights still remain the issue. The situation has been the impact on the waiver of the rights of minority groups to worship. \ud In 2006, Mayor of Bogor City, in West Java Provinces, revoked the license of Church construction in his respective area. The author would like to explain how this case showed the weakness of democratic political culture threaten the religious minorities. The central government and the legal institutions even in the highest level could not control local government in such issue. The case currently appears in an international forum attention since 2011.\ud I argue the lack of democratic political culture has abandoned to minority religious rights of worship. Both minority and majority groups, as well as local and central government, tend to rely on the legal process, but not all of parties intent to obey the court decision