By: Silvia AP )*
The 2024 Regional Head Election (Pilkada) is an important moment in Indonesia’s democratic journey. In this process, the campaign is a very crucial stage. Campaigns are a medium for prospective leaders to convey their vision, mission and work programs to the community. However, behind that, campaigns are also vulnerable to various practices that can damage election integrity, such as money politics, hoaxes and black campaigns. Therefore, building collective awareness to monitor the 2024 Pilkada campaign is a very important step to maintain election integrity.
Head of Public Relations of the East Kalimantan Regional Police, Grand Commissioner Artanto, explained that the East Kalimantan Regional Police’s cyber team will be prepared to anticipate the spread of hoaxes, hate speech, racism and black campaigns during the Pilkada period. Artanto explained that in almost every regional head election contestation there would be black campaigns. For this reason, he asked the public not to immediately believe information obtained from social media.
Elections with integrity are elections that are carried out honestly, fairly and transparently. This is not only the responsibility of election organizers, such as the General Election Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), but also the responsibility of all elements of society. The public must be actively involved in monitoring the campaign to ensure that the democratic process runs well and in accordance with applicable regulations.
Bawaslu, Morotai Island Regency, North Maluku, has supervised the Morotai KPU in printing campaign attributes for the 2024 Regional Head General Election (Pemilukada). Coordinator of the Legal, Prevention, Community Participation and Public Relations (HP2H) Division, Mulkan Hi. Sudin said that during the approximately two day activity in Makassar, Bawaslu Morotai supervised the KPU calculating the printed campaign attributes for the stages of the General Election. Mulkan added that the company is currently printing campaign outreach materials.
One of the first steps in building collective awareness is to increase people’s political literacy. Good political literacy will make people more critical and sensitive to the various information they receive during the campaign period. In the digital era like now, information can be easily spread via social media. Therefore, it is important for the public to be able to sort and verify any information they receive so as not to get caught up in hoax news or misleading information.
Apart from that, the role of the media is also very vital in maintaining the integrity of the campaign. Mass media must be able to carry out its function as a conveyor of objective and impartial information. The media must be able to educate the public about the importance of choosing leaders based on capability and integrity, not based on money or unrealistic promises. The media must also play an active role in monitoring the running of the campaign, reporting all forms of violations, and providing space for the public to voice their opinions.
Pekanbaru City Bawaslu held a Coffee Morning activity with the theme “Evaluation Meeting on the Implementation of Simultaneous Election Supervision in 2024 with Pekanbaru City Press Personnel”. Ferdy as Chair of Pekanbaru City Bawaslu said in his speech that this activity was an opportunity for Pekanbaru Bawaslu and the Media to share information with the public regarding supervision of the upcoming regional elections.
Meanwhile, Reni Purba, Head of the Prevention, Community and Public Relations Division (P2H), said that Bawaslu was ready to supervise the implementation of the election and make the 2024 Simultaneous Election a success in accordance with the technical instructions that had been established. Reni added that cooperation between Bawaslu and the media is very important to ensure that the public gets accurate and reliable information. Reni also emphasized that members of the press must understand the regulations and also understand the stages involved.
Apart from that, it is also important to provide political education to potential leaders so that they understand and respect good political ethics. Prospective leaders must be given an understanding of the importance of running a clean campaign and with integrity. They must be made aware that elections are not just an event to gain power, but are also a process that determines the future of the nation. In this way, they are expected to be able to prioritize the values of honesty, justice and transparency in every stage of the campaign.
No less important, active participation from all elements of society is key in monitoring the 2024 Pilkada campaign. The public must be given space and access to be involved in monitoring the campaign. One way is to provide a complaint platform or channel that is easily accessible to the public to report all forms of violations they encounter. Apart from that, the public must also be given protection so that they are not afraid to report violations.
Ultimately, maintaining the integrity of the 2024 Pilkada campaign is a shared responsibility. The community, media, CSOs, NGOs, KPU, Bawaslu, government and political parties must collaborate and synergize to ensure that campaigns run honestly, fairly and transparently. Only in this way can we realize quality elections and produce leaders who truly represent the will of the people. Election integrity is the main foundation in building a healthy and sustainable democracy. Therefore, let’s together supervise the 2024 Pilkada campaign to maintain the integrity of the election and the future of the nation.
)* The author is from the editorial team of the Student Press Institute (LPM) Ideas