By: Alexander Joshua Galen )*
Still not on the agenda or campaign period, Bawaslu strictly prohibits individual political parties from carrying out covert campaigns, especially during the May Day celebrations on May 1.
May is a month that usually begins with a red date. Indeed, May 1 is celebrated as a holiday, which is one of the national holidays, namely to commemorate Labor Day. In fact, not only in Indonesia, but also the commemoration of Labor Day is also celebrated throughout the world on May 1 every year.
It is known that on that date a history of Labor Day had previously been stored, namely commemorating how the historic struggle had been carried out by workers and also the labor movement even throughout the world.
International Labor Day or also commonly known as May Day itself appeared before the 19th century. The term May Day refers to the celebration of the change of seasons, leading to spring (spring) in the United States (US). Also included, May Day itself is known as International Worker’s Day because it celebrates the rights of workers and there were 8 (eight) working days in the US at that time.
Then, in the 20th century, in the end every May 1 was officially approved by the Soviet Union and also celebrated as International Labor Solidarity Day, especially in several Communist-minded countries. However, the US doesn’t celebrate Labor Day on the same date at all, instead they celebrate it on the first Monday in September.
This is because on May 1 itself there is already another celebration in the US, which is commemorated as Loyalty Day which is an official holiday but does not apply widely. Some opinions state why the United States does not celebrate it because to be able to prevent riots like in 1886 ago.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia itself, the commemoration of Labor Day began in the colonial era on May 1, 1918 by the Kung Tang Hwee Labor Union. The idea of celebrating Labor Day in Indonesia arose after one of the colonial figures, namely Adolf Baars, criticized the price of renting land belonging to workers, which was indeed too cheap to be used as plantations. Also included, at that time the workers worked at inadequate wages.
Then, from year to year, every May 1 has always been an event for workers to demand many of their rights, ranging from delayed payment of wages, decent working hours and wages, maternity leave rights, menstruation leave rights, to the existence of holiday allowances. (THR) which can be enjoyed until now.
Still related to Labor Day celebrations, the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) of Lampung Province appealed to all Political Parties (Parpol) not to carry out campaigns, especially ahead of the international May Day celebration.
The chairman of the Lampung Province Bawaslu, Iskardo P. Panggar stated that the moment of the International Labor Day celebration was a concern because it could actually be used by political parties and they carried out covert campaigns, moreover, at this time several stages of the General Election (Pemilu) in 2024 ago is indeed underway.
Firmly, he stated that covert campaigns carried out by political party elements in May Day celebrations were absolutely not permitted, because according to him, the campaign stage had not yet officially entered, even though it had entered the election stage, it was still not the campaign period. .
Of course, Bawaslu as the election supervisor continues to make various efforts to anticipate covert campaigns that might be carried out by certain political parties during the May Day celebration, his party has also coordinated with security forces and the Lampung Regional Police.
Iskardo appealed to election participants to remain restrained and not take advantage of the Labor Day celebration as an opportunity to introduce themselves as election participants or other things that could lead to allegations of violations in the 2024 election.
A similar sentiment was conveyed by a member of the Lampung Bawaslu, Karno Ahmad Satarya. According to him, even though there is no direct connection with the election, Labor Day is a common concern for taking anticipatory steps to prevent violations. The coordinator of the prevention and parmas division also hopes that everyone can respect the commemoration of Labor Day properly and wisely without turmoil.
The May Day celebration itself has the potential to be used by certain political party elements in carrying out covert campaigns so that they can get votes and sympathizers for the needs of the upcoming 2024 election. Therefore, the Bawaslu strictly prohibits this practice because it is not yet the time to campaign.
)* The author is a Contributor to Suara Khatulistiwa
