by: Rizal Arifin*
Ahead of the 2019 Election, which is only a few months away, the political atmosphere is increasingly high. One by one false news that threatens the continuation of the election is addressed to the General Election Commission (KPU). The hope is to make an opinion in the public that the KPU is not a credible and independent organizer. This has the potential to be a strong reason for making riots if the election results are not as expected. Of course we all really don’t want that to happen.
Beginning in 2019, to be exact on January 2, 2019, the public was surprised by Andi Arief (Secretary of TKN Prabowo-Sandi) on the twitter page saying that there were seven containers of ballots that had been punched. This is very shocking to the public, all parties wonder whether this is truly a democracy in Indonesia. The rapid movement of the KPU and Bawaslu to save asymmetrical information deserves a thumbs up, not letting the public drag on in doubt. The KPU confirmed based on information from the Customs Office that it was not true that the news of the seven containers of ballots was broken. Obviously this is a hoax to disrupt the election and frighten the public, and a black campaign to attack the incumbent presidential candidate Joko Widodo.
Indonesian House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo revealed the news of hoaxes related to seven ballot containers which had been blamed had the potential to corner President Joko Widodo as a deterrent and to delegitimize the KPU as the organizer of the 2019 Election.
We all hope that the Election will run with full integrity in accordance with the principles of honesty and fairness. Not only the task of the KPU, but also participants in the General Election. It is not elegant that political parties or public figures should enliven hoax news for reasons that are contrary to political preferences with the government, or indeed this is a scenario to reduce Joko Widodo’s popularity and electability in the 2019 Presidential Election. Winning political contestation is ideally done in an elegant way, not justifying everything way. Once rowing, two three islands were exceeded. That is a picture of the impact of hoax news that was spread by opposition groups. Damaging the credibility of the KPU, causing fear in the community, threatening the safety of the election organizers, and cornering one of the candidates.
The Director of the Association for Elections and Democracy, Titi Anggraini, supports the KPU’s move to bring this case to the law. The KPU should not consider this an ordinary event, especially with a long and serious impact that might occur. KPU must act quickly, measurably, and legally in responding. Responding to the speech of Andi Arief on the twitter page which was considered an appeal, Titi Anggraini stressed that the political elite should report to the KPU. It is impossible for the political elite not to have access to election organizers.
Andi Arief’s intentions as the Secretary of the National Campaign Team (TKN) Prabowo-Sandiaga had the intention to cause chaos and corner President incumbent President Joko Widodo. This scenario was prepared to reduce the popularity and electability of Joko Widodo in the 2019 Presidential Election or as an excuse to make chaos if the presidential and vice presidential candidates he defeated lost in the 2019 Presidential Election. This method is proof of political immaturity that is not ready to lose in a contest. This is very inappropriate for other elite political parties to emulate.
It didn’t take long for the police to arrest the perpetrators of the ballot hoaxes that had been cast out. To this day the police have arrested four perpetrators in this case. One of them is Bagus Buwana Putra (BBP), is the Deputy General Chairperson of the National Volunteer Coalition Coordinator Prabowo (KORNAS PRABOWO). Bagus Bawana has the role of making audio about hoaxes and distributing them on Whatsapp groups and social media. After making a hoax, the BBP suspect threw away his cellphone in an attempt to erase the evidence and escape to Sragen.
Obviously this is a deliberate attempt to corner President Joko Widodo. Performed with careful planning by the winning team Prabowo-Sandiaga. This cannot be tolerated, the police must take firm action and explore the case to intellectual actors. If there is no firmness of the police to resolve this case, it cannot be imagined how many lies and ignorance circulated in the public space. Of course we do not want political contestation to be done by justifying various methods. Cornering the incumbent by attacking the organizers of the election is the way to reverse democracy. Let us support the Indonesian National Police to take firm action against all actors who spread lies for an increasingly democratic climate.
- The author is a Democracy Activist