By: Tyas Permata Wiyana )*
Identity politics seems to be a hot topic ahead of the 2024 General Election.
Andi Widjajanto has always been the Governor of the National Defense Institute (Lemhanas) rejecting the escalation of the use of identity politics in the 2024 elections. This is because identity politics can actually trigger divisions.
Apart from identity politics, Andi rejects the spread of disinformation which includes hoaxes, hate speech and fraud that are intentional to create political uproar.
If this can be overcome and turned into substantial campaigns for deliberative democracy, we are looking for new ideas, what breakthroughs can be offered to voters.
For example, what can we think about to strengthen democracy, carry out green transformation and so on. So, it is possible that the competition that occurs will become a quality competition that strengthens democracy for the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
In addition, Andi said that the 2024 election would take place in a relatively unstable situation. This is influenced by the global political and economic situation. Unlike the 2014 and 2019 elections, where conditions were stable at that time, the 2024 elections were overshadowed by geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. What’s more, the world recession is still lurking which has continued in banking problems and debt crises in a number of countries.
Meanwhile, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) Puadi asked political parties (parpol) not to mention identity politics during the 2024 elections. Bawaslu stressed the importance of building a healthy democratic climate in Indonesia.
He firmly stated the importance of building a healthy climate in democracy in Indonesia. He also emphasized the importance of all related parties to think visionary in order to realize quality elections.
Previously, during the state address, President Joko Widodo reminded that there should be no more identity politics in the implementation of the 2024 Election. He also reminded that there should be no more politicization of religion and social polarization during the preparation and implementation of the 2024 Election. Democracy in Indonesia must be more mature by strengthening consolidation national.
Of course there are still memories of the 2019 election, where this moment can be a valuable lesson for all elements. At that time, one identity collided with another identity, until finally fellow Muslims were also clashed against each other. This of course will result in the destruction of friendships and even households.
Exploitation of identity politics, including the spread of hoaxes, of course, should not be considered as a norm to gain people’s votes. However, good goals should be achieved in good ways too.
The source of Identity Politics is the inability to transform social identity into political identity. Political identity is still subordinated to social identity.
Election participants, be they presidential or legislative candidates, must prioritize national politics by placing the country’s interests above all else, not group and personal interests.
On a different occasion, Chairman of the Indonesian MPR, Bambang Soesatyo, hopes that the 2024 election will be free from identity politics. Because according to him, identity politics is very dangerous, this is evidenced by the impact of identity politics in the previous election which is still being felt today.
Bamsoet hopes that in the 2024 election, competition between candidates will run in a healthy manner. Unlike the 2019 elections which led to a breakdown in harmony between communities.
The interests of identity politics are indeed quite worrying and cause rifts to the roots of national unity and integrity. For this reason, his party also invites all elements of the nation to speak out against identity politics as a tool to gain electoral votes.
Meanwhile, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as chairman of GP Ansor said, entering a political year, of course many political actors are narrow minded to advance their interests. There are even those who are cunning by bringing up religious issues or symbols. This of course must be watched out for together because it is very dangerous for national unity.
The person who is familiarly called Gus Yaqut said that the Indonesian nation was built on the hard struggle of its founders to unite the various differences that exist in the archipelago, such as religion, ethnicity, race, class, language and so on. The unity that has been strongly fostered is cared for and maintained because Indonesia has proven to be a shared home.
Facing this situation, he asked the Ansor and Banser Youth cadres not to be careless. Because it is very likely that political users will target young people, including NU cadres, for practical purposes.
Therefore, for the sake of realizing healthy elections, of course, many parties are needed to knit unity with each other even though in elections they have different choices. Identity politics should be avoided and watched out for so that elections do not leave polarization.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada Institute
