The latest results from the governorial elections in the provinces of West Java and North Sumatra, Indonesia, would suggest that a sea-change of sorts is taking place in Indonesia. Shortly after the shock election results following the General Elections held in Malaysia earlier this year, the governorial elections of Indonesia has led to the victory of the Justice and Prosperity party (PKS) and the National Mandate party (PAN), both of which are Islamist in character and both of which trace their ideological and intellectual geneaology back to the Islamist Masjumi party of the 1950s that struggled to make Indonesia an Islamic state until it was finally banned by President Sukarno in 1960.

What do these results entail and what does it say about the state of Indonesian politics today? More importantly, should the victories of PKS and PAN be seen as the victory of political Islam, and does this signify a shift towards a more Islamist-inclined politics for the rest of the country?

For a start, we should begin with some important observations comparing the results in Indonesia with the recent results in Malaysia. In both cases, the parties that won fielded candidates who are young and relatively unknown compared to the older veterans of the more established parties like Golkar in Indonesia. Yet, as was the case in Malaysia recently, it was precisely the relatively younger age and lack of exposure that perhaps accounted for the victory of the candidates of the PKS and PAN, for they were certainly not associated with the older modes of politics in the past and were not involved or implicated in many of the long-standing political and economic scandals associated with the old regime that dates back to the time of former President Suharto.

So far, so good: Two months on after the general elections of March it would appear as if some semblance of normality has returned and Malaysian life is meandering along at its normal KL-traffic jam pace. Despite the scare tactics that were employed during the election campaign, none of the worst-case scenarios have been played out and our mothers have not been rushing to the local sundry shops to stock up on Ayam brand sardines.

There have, however, been some odd rumblings in the distance that we ought to take notice of: It was reported that members of the Islamic party PAS have called on the PAS state assemblymen in Selangor to work on improving the image of the party in the state, beginning with some rather cosmetic attempts at Islamisation that include the proposal to build more prayer houses and prayer rooms for Muslims in markets and other public places. Other suggestions have included calling on PAS representatives in Selangor to call for standards of decency to be set for Muslim women (and why only Muslim women?), as well as ensuring that Selangor’s beloved state religious authorities are empowered to direct Muslims who frequent the public spaces of Selangor to pray during the appointed prayer times for Muslims.

Noises of this sort are, of course, to be expected from some of the more conservative elements of the Islamic party that we have come to know and love. But before the good ‘ol Mat Skodeng squads are let loose on the unsuspecting public, and another bunch of Malaysian kids are locked up in cages to be verbally abused and video-ed for the amusement of the moral guardians of society, let us remind ourselves of a few simple facts: