In answering the above question, there are two major themes that come to mind: the role of the state government, and the role of the Indonesian Muslim community.
From the period of the Guided Democracy under Sukarno, and following that, Suharto's New Order, Islamic parties have been subjected to repression and manipulation by the state for over forty years. During the period of the New Order, the government was especially hostile towards the manifestation of Islam in politics, and was clear in its intention to systematically depoliticise Islam through its de-Islamicisation policies and tight control over Islamic political activities. In relation to the role of the state, it is important to look at these periods in Indonesia's political history and analyse the impact of state influence on the issue of what type of role Islam should play in Indonesia's political arena.
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