By: Ahmad Dzul Ilmi Muis)*
All election participants must be able to comply with all the rules that have been made and agreed on regarding the process of implementing the stages of the election, including carrying out the campaign. Don’t let election participants carry out campaigns outside the schedule and provisions, because that will damage the spirit of democracy in the country.
It is known that there will be another democratic party (election) in Indonesia in 2024, in which the election of the president and vice president, members of the DPR, DPRD and DPD will be held.
It is undeniable that indeed holding elections is something that is very important and is a must for the country to hold. The reason is, as explained by the General Election Commission (KPU), that Indonesia is a country that runs a democratic political system in the process of administering its government.
Meanwhile, democracy itself has indeed become one of the most widely adopted political systems by countries in the world. There are several pillars that are prerequisites for the functioning of a democratic political system, namely: The holding of free and periodic elections; The existence of an open, accountable and responsive government; There is protection of human rights (HAM); The development of civil society in society.
Therefore, the holding of free and periodic elections is a prerequisite for the existence of a healthy democratic political system, because elections are indeed one of the means of people’s sovereignty because they allow the people to directly elect their representatives and leaders to run the government.
Being one of the agendas in a series of election implementations, that is, there must be certain schedules in carrying out certain stages, including campaigns. The election organizers have calculated and estimated when the election participants, political parties and political elites will be able to carry out campaigns in the public. All of these things have actually been arranged regarding the schedule.
In this regard, Member of the General Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), Herwyn Malonda, has firmly asked political parties (parpol) which have been designated as participants in the 2024 election not to campaign before the start of the campaign period agenda, which is on 28 November 2023.
Bawaslu urges election participants or political parties to refrain from conducting campaigns prematurely. This is because the General Election Commission (KPU) has set the election campaign period for 28 November 2023 – 10 February 2024.
According to the Chairman of the Bawaslu, Rahmat Bagja, all election participants are required to submit and obey and participate in the stages in accordance with applicable regulations, so that the holding of the upcoming 2024 elections can be far more conducive and comfortable for all parties.
He added that there was an Election Vulnerability Index (IKP) which had been launched by his party some time ago and it turned out that it could still be used as a reference for all parties in anticipating election violations, especially regarding vulnerabilities regarding ethnicity, religion, race and inter-group issues. (SARA) along with hoax news.
It is not half-hearted, the practice of election violations such as carrying out campaigns that violate the provisions because they are carried out outside the schedule or wild campaigns, according to the Head of Bawaslu, this can be very terrible.
Meanwhile, another Bawaslu member, Totok Hariyono, reminded that participants in the 2024 election were bound by clear rules regarding limitations in conducting campaigns. Bawaslu will take firm action against election participants who violate these campaign restrictions.
In fact, he emphasized that the Bawaslu itself would not remain silent when it discovered election or campaign violations, for example, it turns out that there are certain political parties or political elites that actually use state facilities and carry out covert campaigns.
The data shows that it is true that Bawaslu’s findings are still common and have even become one of the trends in violations, namely covert campaigns using state facilities. The man who serves as the Coordinator of the Legal and Dispute Resolution Division admitted that in the dynamics that were happening, there were still violations regarding the campaign.
Totok further stated emphatically that election participants could have their nominations canceled if they violated Article 284 of Law 7/2017 regarding money politics and structured administrative violations. This also includes other campaign violations, namely when election participants use money politics and they are proven guilty, as in Article 284, they will be immediately given sanctions in the form of canceling their candidacy.
As a country that adheres to a democratic government system and is also a rule of law state, it is clear that in Indonesia there are clear rules regarding how elections are conducted, including the schedules that apply at each stage. Timeliness and suitability of rules for conducting campaigns are things that must be done by all election participants so that misunderstandings do not occur in society and in fact trigger divisions.
)* The author is an alumnus of FISIP Unair
