By: Dodik Prasetyo) *
The media seems to have never been separated from the spotlight on simultaneous elections which will be held in 2019, both mainstream media and online media, competing to present election content which sometimes burns emotions of netizens, so that the explosion of anger between the two camps is difficult to suppress.
The holding of elections is not only limited to the implementation and organization of the Election that has been the domain of the General Election Commission (KPU). But to produce elections with integrity with the preconditions of accountability and transparency, the implementation of elections requires control and supervision.
The community can also learn and understand that elections in Indonesia are not just parties to candidates just to seize power, but more than that the election is a means for the people to implement the sovereignty which is owned and guaranteed by the constitution.
The public in the implementation of the Election may not only be used as an object of the election, and it is only expected to give their voting rights in the voting booth but more than that the citizens must be subjected to the election by involving in the election supervision process to ensure that voting rights have been granted channeled well and constitutionally.
One important feature of the process of organizing democratic elections is the election process. Elections must be held without intimidation, violence, KKN and free from fraud in every stage of the election.
But it seems that the campaign in Indonesia has not been able to be free from black campaign or hoax elements. Not to mention campaigns that tend not to be substantive, where the two candidates in the presidential election are very minimal in giving and political education to the community. Economic discourse and development only become hubbub which leads to debate which does not touch the root of the problem.
Candidates and teams who are reluctant to discuss economic, development and environmental issues in depth, signal that there will be indications of trapping the two candidate candidates with those around them. It’s no secret, that in each circle the candidates who will fight in the 2019 presidential election are entrenched by entrepreneurs engaged in the mining sector, large-scale plantations, property and other sectors that are vulnerable to natural damage.
Even if the candidate who fights seriously and is responsible for the political education of the community, the debate should lead to the Green Constitution contained in article 28 letter A of the 1945 Constitution which states that “everyone has the right to live and has the right to live and live” and article 33 verse ( 4) The 1945 Constitution which states that “the national economy is organized based on economic democracy with the principle of togetherness, efficiency with justice, sustainability, environmental insight, independence, and by maintaining the balance of progress and unity of the national economy.
The concept of the Green Constitution has actually been carried out in Indonesia and this has gained world appreciation. Sixth President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won two awards at the same time in New York in 2012 from USABC. The award was received for his dedication in the field of economy and development and environmental preservation.
This achievement can certainly be a reference for the two candidates in compiling campaign material, not merely discussing the nation’s economy, dropping each other by opening the disgrace and the spread of hoaxes in cyberspace.
Political Analyst Arif Susanto said, the lack of a substance or educational campaign at this time was due to the stuttering of the campaign team in translating the candidates’ vision and mission. That led to the campaigns found today more trivial questions that only stirred up the emotions of the masses.
The campaign should be a part of education for the voter public. The assumption is that through campaigns, the community will not only better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program and the candidate’s personality, but also improve their political intelligence so as to support the improvement of the quality of democracy.
So far the public has been presented with political drama news that stirs up emotions, but lacks stimulation for rational considerations of potential voters. Eventually the prospective voters only chose based on outstanding political drama, not on the vision and mission program that was held by the candidates.
This can be caused by the campaigning of the campaign team that has not been optimal, the politicization of SARA that succeeded in 2017 in Jakarta and the lack of breakthroughs to develop a dialogical campaign for rational voters and a creative campaign for millennial voters who are the most voter groups.
Millennial voters tend to have egalitarian, pluralist, creative characters and are more concerned with shared issues. Without a smart and creative campaign, meaningless political commotion will only enlarge social apathy while reducing the quality of democracy in Indonesia.
In addition, administrative technical restrictions on the campaign by the KPU narrowed down the campaign space, so that there were no elegant ways to circumvent various restrictions.
In this situation, there is certainly a need for more adequate campaign rules. The candidate pair and campaign team must be able to develop smarter and more creative political communication.
In realizing peaceful and democratic elections, certainly strong collaboration between election supervisors and all parties is needed, especially with community members who pay great attention to the implementation of elections that take place honestly and fairly. It is this collaboration between election supervisors and community members that can realize our common aspirations that elections can be carried out peacefully and democratically.
Actually there are many ways of campaigning besides spreading the ugliness of other candidates, all forms of black campaigns or utterances of hate in any form, will never improve the quality of democracy in Indonesia.
) * The author is a Contributor of Indonesian Strategic Information Study Institute (LSISI)