When Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as “Ahok,” was convicted in May 2017 by a Jakarta court, and immediately sentenced to two years in prison, shockwaves went out through the international community that tarnished Indonesia’s reputation as a tolerant nation. Governor of the capital (therefore acting as mayor) defeated when he ran to keep his office, this ethnic-Chinese Christian, close to Jokowi, personified for his supporters the necessary political renewal for the continuation of the Reformasi. By recontextualizing the Ahok case within the history of the Indonesian political transition, this article considers the progress of a soft fundamentalism, but also the signs of ongoing democratic progress.