Identity politics, racial intolerance, hate speech, and hoax news are predicted to still pose a real threat in the 2020 simultaneous local elections.
“It seems that identity politics, SARA and hoaxes are still rife in the elections. And this must be fought together, “said DPP Chairman Paetai NasDem Irma Suryani Chaniago in a discussion of The Jakarta Institute titled” Watching Hoax and SARA ahead of the Simultaneous Election 2020 in Sofyan Hotel, Jakarta, Tuesday (2/18/2020).
Irma believes that identity politics, hoaxes and SARA are still in demand in society because social phenomena themselves show that there are many religious communities without knowledge.
“Why does SARA become very popular, identity politics is very popular, because there are still many people who have a religion but not knowledgeable. So that radicalism in the negative sense is rife, “he explained.
He also mentioned that radicals are not only Islam, but also all religions can be radical. For example in India and Pakistan. “So almost all religions have the potential of radicalists, using radical thinking,” he stressed.
Irma, who is also known as a labor activist, explained that the issue of SARA and identity politics has been rife since the 2017 DKI Election, and since then it has been felt how strong the influence of identity politics was developed using hoaks.
“With the success of identity politics in DKI, what will happen next will be regional elections and elections that will continue to be colored,” he added.
In fact, explained Irma, the negative excesses of identity politics are very dangerous, causing horizontal conflicts, clashing mass organizations with mass organizations and religion with religion.
“We certainly don’t want Indonesia to become a battleground. This is dangerous if it continues, “he said.
Irma also requested that this identity politics be resisted together. You do this by clean political socialization in the community, then fixing the regulations of the KPU, Bawaslu and the police. All must be together against identity politics, “explained Irma.
In the discussion, Asep Saepudin from Indo Barometer said that identity politics is one way for candidates and the winning team to attract public sympathy.
He also said that the friction in the 2020 elections was very large, because there were 270 local elections, including nine Pilgub, 224 Pilbup, and 37 mayor elections.
“Because directly elected by the community, it requires candidates and teams to form a winning strategy. Then the negative issues and SARA become a choice for them, “said Asep.
He also assessed that the phenomenon of social media fosters identity politics to be developed. Because almost all people now have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp.
Asep said, the social media phenomenon was not accompanied by political education and the level of knowledge of the people in Indonesia.
If studied the behavior of the voting community, Asep explained, in terms of geography the majority were still in the countryside. Awareness raising science and education is relatively low, and based on BPS data, 64 percent of their education is mid-down.
“This is all very related to people’s behavior in responding to hoaks and SARA,” he explained.
With this fact, Asep assesses that the biggest work that must be done if the election is to run well is how to educate the public to be able to fight the hoak.
“It is necessary to build intelligent voter character. Then there must be oversight of social media.
People all have Facebook, WA, Instagram. This must be utilized positively, “said Asep.