REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the political condition in Indonesia could not be separated from religion. He said politics of identity was also existed in the most democratic country in the world, United States.  

Kalla said the U.S. needed 175 years to let John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, to be its president. The country needed 240 years to allow an African American to lead. 

"(Politics and religions) could not be 100 percent separated. There is always external factors affected the political condition, whether it is a political ideology, religion or race," said Kalla in Jakarta on Tuesday (May 2). 

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Kalla said almost all the countries in the world did not 100 percent segregate politics from religion. He gave an example how Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar struggle for human right and got nobel. But, when she came into politics, she could not resolve the problems in Rohingya. 

"She chose to be neutral," said Kalla. 

Meanwhile, Kalla saw in Indonesia, politics of identity showed in how it was very difficult for a non-Javanese to became a leader. "Considering the politics need its constituents, therefore it might affect local constituents," he explained.

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