by: Gani Permata
Munajat 212’s activities drew controversy. Attended by a number of clerics and political figures such as Chair of the Advisory Council for Working Titiek Suharto, MPR Chair Zulkifli Hasan, Deputy Speaker of the MPR Hidayat Nur Wahid, and Deputy Speaker of the House Fadli Zon and Fahri Hamzah, the activity was in the public spotlight. Not only that, a number of parties also highlighted the words of Zulkifli Hasan who mentioned the presidential change.
Chairman of the National Campaign Team (TKN), Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin, DKI Jakarta, Prasetyo Edi Marsudi also reported Zulkifli Hasan about the speech when Munajat 212 was considered to be politically charged. In his speech, Zulkifli Hasan made an invitation to choose the candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno. The Chairperson of the National Mandate Party (PAN) was alleged to have violated Article 283 and 547 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections.
The action was considered as an effort to lead support and was considered as a form of campaign that was out of schedule. Even though the General Election Commission (KPU) has scheduled a new open campaign to be held on March 24 to April 13.
“It’s not time for the campaign to give a statement to one of the candidates. That’s all we report, “said Prasetyo.
On the same occasion, members of the DKI Jakarta TKN, Sahrianta Tarigan, hoped the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) of DKI could immediately investigate the alleged violations of the campaign. It regretted that there was a political elite who could not set a good example to the community.
“Yes, he is the organizer of the state and is suspected of violating the rules of the campaign,” Shrianta said.
Meanwhile, Coordinator of the DKI Bawaslu Supervision Division, Burhanuddin said that currently his party was tracing alleged election violations in the Munajat 212. event. Burhan said the DKI Bawaslu was collecting evidence, such as videos, photos, and eye reports from officers deployed to the field. He said that the investigation into the alleged election violations at night Munajat 212 was at the latest terminated in 14 days.
“We are still gathering evidence all related to supervision, whether there are speeches leading to the campaign. We still have seven days to assess it, confirmation and so on. If we still need proof, we still have seven more days, “said Burhanuddin.
Responding to the Jokowi-Mauf TKN report against Zulkifli Hasan, the National Winning Body (BPN) Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno said he was surprised. Prabowo-Sandiaga debater, Saleh Partaonan Daulay said the accusations thrown at Jokowi-Ma’ruf TKN as an effort to weaken Prabowo. He emphasized that Munajat 212 did not violate the rules. In addition, Saleh explained that Zulkifli Hasan’s presence at the event was not in the context of politics.
“If the general chairman of the party is present, it must be interpreted as part of the implementation of his teachings and religious beliefs. Supposedly, the state provides protection against the realization of human rights of citizens. It’s not even being questioned, “Saleh said.
Actually the Munajat 212 event was a positive agenda with the initial goal of praying for Indonesia to be safer in the future. However, by utilizing this momentum to convey political messages, it cannot be denied that the night title of Munajat 212 is part of the politicization of religion and political campaigns. Moreover, the event which was held by the DKI Jakarta FPI Da’wah and MUI Institution uses the symbol “212” which is identical to the supporters of the Prabowo-Sandiaga candidate pair.
As a public official, Zulkifli Hasan should be able to distinguish statements made as political goals. Especially as the general chairman of a political party, he was considered to understand the rules made by the KPU about the campaign.
*) Students at the University of Persada Indonesia