Lawmaker candidates face Quran test in Aceh

Jakarta: Indonesia's Aceh province began testing candidates for next year's provincial elections on the Quran on Tuesday, an election commission official said.

More than 1,300 Muslim candidates from 43 political parties will recite verses from the holy book before a jury for about five minutes, said Nurjani Abdullah, a member of the Aceh Election Independent Commission.

"It is based on sharia law under which a legislator in Aceh province has to able to read the Quran," said Abdullah. "This is for Muslim candidates only."

Aceh province, on the westernmost end of Indonesia, is the only area officially allowed to use sharia, or Islamic law, as part of a local autonomy deal.

Some local governments elsewhere have introduced sharia-inspired by-laws, but the new head of Indonesia's constitutional court has said they are not constitutional and could threaten national integrity.

Sharia law

The government of Tangerang near Jakarta has introduced laws forbidding women from going out alone at night.

In 2006, a woman working in a restaurant was convicted for prostitution because she was at a bus stop alone at night after work.

Under sharia, people have been caned for adultery, gambling and stealing in Aceh.

About 3 million people in Aceh are entitled to vote in Indonesia's parliamentary and provincial elections next April.

Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country of about 226 million people, but has a secular constitution.