Miss World Finals in Doubt After Indonesian Protests
By JOE COCHRANE
Published: September 9, 2013
JAKARTA — The finals of the annual Miss World pageant are in jeopardy following a decision by the Indonesian government to relocate the competition because of opposition from radical Islamic groups, with local organizers saying Monday that it might not be possible to move the globally televised event on short notice.
But after a meeting Saturday between Vice President Boediono and officials from the national police and the welfare and tourism ministries, the government announced that the entire pageant could only be staged in Bali, where radical Islamist groups have less of a presence, for public order reasons.
Nana Putra, project director for programming and production at MNC, the Indonesian media conglomerate that is organizing the 63rd annual competition, said that logistically it was probably not possible to relocate the upcoming segments and grand finale to Bali given the shortage of time. She noted that many banquet facilities and hotel rooms had already been booked for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, which will be held in Bali early next month and attended by President Barack Obama of the United States, President Xi Jinping of China and numerous other world leaders.
"The pageant has different programs, and that requires booking venues, rooms, equipment far in advance," Ms. Nana said, adding that organizers had been working on hosting the competition since 2010. "It's just difficult for us to change all these things that we were preparing for a long time. We cannot just change it overnight."
She said the Indonesian government had neither consulted with pageant organizers nor invited them to the meeting on Saturday, and that they only heard about the decision when officials held a news conference after briefing Mr. Boediono.
The pageant has drawn heavy criticism in recent months from radical organizations, including the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group known to smash bars, restaurants and nightclubs that they see as affronts to Islam. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, with more than 200 million faithful, but it has a secular government and prominent minority Christian and Hindu populations.
In June, pageant organizers were forced to publicly calm fears that the pageant would have a swimsuit competition, following claims by radical groups that Miss World was an immoral event that exploited women. The competitors from a record 129 countries will pose only in beachwear, including traditional Balinese sarongs.
Thousands of radicals have protested the Miss World pageant in Jakarta in recent days, including last week after Friday Prayer, when they demonstrated outside the high-rise offices of MNC and demanded that the entire competition be canceled.
Ms. Nana rejected claims that the pageant was immoral or "pornographic," as some radical groups claimed, and said she was concerned that the government appeared to be giving in to threats.
"We want to show the world that Indonesia is a safe country with friendly people, and we want to show that Indonesia is not just Bali," she said, adding that the organizers would appeal to the government to stick to the original plan once they received official notification.
Yopie Hidayat, a spokesman for Mr. Boediono, said the current situation "is not conducive" to holding the pageant in Java, where the majority of Indonesian Muslims live.
"The police have the right to make a consideration," he said. "The rejection of the competition is quite strong from various segments of the community."
But analysts said the decision was the latest instance of the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono caving in to threats of violence by a small but vocal minority of ultraconservative Muslims. Last year, the global pop star Lady Gaga canceled a scheduled concert in Jakarta after the police refused to approve a permit, citing safety concerns over threats by radical groups to forcibly prevent her from taking the stage.
"They surrender to pressure from radical groups," said Azyumardi Azra, a prominent Muslim scholar and director of the graduate school at the State Islamic University in Jakarta. "It sends a very bad signal."
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