03/03/2019 Indonesia (International Christian Concern) – Ahead of the April 17 presidential election, the Chief of election campaign for Joko Widodo is warning supporters not to be complacent over the incumbent’s lead in opinion polls, given the high number of undecided voters and threat of fake news.

“Right now we need to focus on undecided voters,” said Erick Thohir, a billionaire businessman picked as campaign chief after he organized the Asian Games hosted by Indonesia last year. Thohir told a group of foreign journalists that the number of undecided voters is at 12 to 15 percent of the electorate.

According to Reuters, Thohir said it was important not to underestimate the impact of fake news, often circulated on social media, and said the campaign had learned from the 2016 U.S. elections that there was a need to push back in these situations.

“This is why … when there is fake news we need to make a strong statement,” he said.

Rumors against Widodo that often spread rapidly online include claims that he is a Christian, has Chinese ancestry, or is secretly a communist. These are sensitive labels in the world’s largest Muslim nation where Christians are a minority, the communist party is banned, and hostility toward the social status and the wealth of Chinese Indonesians continues to exist.

Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Christian Chinese widely known as Ahok, was jailed in May 2017 for nearly two years on trumped-up blasphemy charges. This shows that radical Islam in Indonesia is on the rise and any “religiously incorrect” thoughts or wrong ethnic background can be costly to any individuals.

For interviews with Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]