Supernatural forces align with polls to predict comfortable win for Susilo
Never mind political manifestos, past track records and party affiliations - in Indonesia, the presidential race and the future of the country will be decided by paranormal powers.
That, at least, is what a host of politically inclined shamans and self-proclaimed mediums claim as they weigh up the July 8 presidential polls.
As is the case with most analysts, the majority agree that incumbent, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is a shoo-in.
Javanese mystic Permadi, who like most Indonesians has only one name, said Dr Susilo would win again but it would spell disaster for Indonesia. 'It is written in his date of birth: 9-9-1949. According to Primbon, the Javanese mystical manual, this date is a bad omen. The god that protected this day is Betari Durga, one of the two gods of anger and chaos,' said Permadi, also the chief patron of the Gerindra party. The party's chairman, Prabowo Subianto, is seeking the vice-presidency in partnership with Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Not surprisingly, Permadi failed to disclose precisely which mystical signs bode so ill for a Megawati presidency.
Dr Susilo's other challenger for the presidency is incumbent Vice-President Jusuf Kalla. Permadi added that the duel between Dr Susilo and Mr Kalla is a recipe for disaster.
'The other god of anger is Batara Kalla. So we basically have a duel between the two gods of chaos. Indonesia is on course for social unrest, just like Iran.'
Equally grim is the prediction of Mama Laurent, another expert in Javanese mysticism, who claimed that nothing good would come out of the election. 'But the disaster will not be at grass-roots level. It will be among the political elite,' she said during a programme broadcasted by Trans 7 TV, a national channel.
She did not predict a winner but said that 'signs in nature indicate that the next president will be an experienced male leader, who is tall and big'. The identikit points to Dr Susilo, who is much taller and bigger than Mr Kalla, the only other male candidate.
A string of other mediums were more explicit in picking Dr Susilo and his running mate, Boediono, as the winners.
Their predictions are supported by every polling survey so far, all of which indicate a Susilo-Boediono victory either next Wednesday or in September. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must win an outright majority.
Tamrin Amal Tomagola, a sociologist based in Jakarta, said it was unlikely that people's votes would be swayed by the prognostications of mystics.
'People have already made up their minds; if the predictions support their choice, then they will be happier. But if they do not, they will not think about it too much,' he said.
Javanese people make up 45 per cent of Indonesia's 240 million inhabitants. Most are Muslims, but their religion incorporates many elements of mysticism or kebatinan, rooted in indigenous animist beliefs in supernatural powers, spirits of nature and souls of the deceased.
