On 12 September Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, announced a change in nomenclature for Christian national holidays. The decision was made to adopt the term “Yesus Kristus”, the name of Jesus Christ used by Indonesian Christians, instead of “Isa al-Masih”, the Arabic term used for Jesus in the Qur’an. Although intended to protect Indonesia’s diverse religious traditions, the policy change reflects how easily religious policies can become a point of contestation among Indonesia’s religiously diverse communities.

The union of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) under the banner of the Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Amin presidential ticket has defied expectations. It is easy to see PKB and PKS as being at opposite ends of a traditionalist-modernist political spectrum. But when we take a longer view of history we can see these different religious orientations do not always preclude collaboration.