The General Election (Election) is a big agenda that requires supervision, this is what underlies the formation of an election supervisory body (Bawaslu) which has a very crucial role. On the other hand, Bawaslu also needs to map the problems ahead of the election. Ahead of the 2024 election, Bawaslu stated that there were 4 main issues ahead of the election.
From the results of studies and research, Bawaslu has mapped out 4 main issues in the election, namely the neutrality of ASN, money politics, the politicization of SARA, and campaigns on social media. This issue is still thick in the implementation of elections and the 2024 general election.
Acting Head of the RI Bawaslu Research, Development, Education and Training Center, Ibrahim Malik Tanjung, said that the four issues must be of concern to the election organizers.
Bawaslu considers that the four strategic issues must be of concern to the organizers of the 2024 Election so that the implementation of the democratic party is more open, honest and fair. Bawaslu then forms a hazard mapping for elections and simultaneous elections in 2024 and strategic issues as a more comprehensive, creative, attractive and progressive prevention effort.
Ibrahim said, Bawaslu did this as an effort to prevent potential violations from occurring at the campaign stage which began in November 2023. Bawaslu itself has also carried out a series of drafting, mapping of employees, strategic issues and is ready to be conveyed to the public.
It is hoped that the mapping of election issues will become a reference for Bawaslu staff throughout Indonesia as well as related stakeholders to oversee the stages of the 2024 General Election and simultaneous elections. The purpose of this mapping is to convey information about the mapping of the vulnerability of electoral money politics practices and the 2024 simultaneous elections to the election organizers, stakeholders and the general public.
In addition, the purpose of the mapping is as an effort to obtain input from election activists and academics regarding strategies for preventing election violations and the 2024 concurrent elections related to the strategic issue of money politics.
Previously, Bawaslu member Totok Hariyono emphasized that the direction of the election supervisory agency’s current policies prioritizes oversight and prevention. In the dimension of dispute resolution over the 2024 election process, Bawaslu will also prioritize prevention efforts to minimize dispute requests.
Totok explained that election contestation is like a running race, so there will be friction. In the election context, Totok said, the state through the Bawaslu, which was given attributive authority to resolve process disputes, was present to minimize friction between the parties regarding the implementation of the election.
Of course the presence of Bawaslu is very useful to reduce friction, so that differences of opinion can be resolved and become something constructive. So it is very important for Bawaslu to be able to map the problems that arise before the elections are held.
On a different occasion, Bawaslu member Mochammad Afifudin said that many records for the 20219 elections and 2020 regional elections have been inventoried for learning in the 2024 elections. One of the problems included in the Bawaslu inventory for the 2024 simultaneous elections is that Bawaslu once sent a letter to the KPU to guarantee the fulfillment of rights select persons with disabilities.
Regarding advocacy for these vulnerable groups, Bawaslu has specifically accommodated vulnerable groups with disabilities and the community to join the Participatory Supervisory Cadre School (SKPP). This of course aims to make the election a democratic party for all people, including those with disabilities.
Meanwhile, Djoni Gunanto as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta, revealed that there are strategic issues in the implementation of the upcoming elections which consist of regulatory issues, organizers, participants, voters, logistics to issues from the implementation stage. So how can the 2024 Election take place and run according to the existing rules by paying attention to several things, namely there must be a guarantee of the people’s constitutional rights that are maintained and accommodated in election management.
Djoni also said the importance of shared awareness and responsibility for holding elections because looking back the burden of political education and political outreach had not been carried out together. Moreover, hoaxes ahead of the election are still a quite complicated problem.
Rahmat Bagja as Chair of the Bawaslu said that hoaxes are a critical point in elections that are difficult to avoid in the digitalization era. The main impact of hoaxes is the emergence of polarization in society, as happened in the 2019 election.
He also added, if hoaxes could not be handled, this would of course have an impact on reducing the credibility and integrity of the election administration. According to him, this will have an impact on reducing the quality of elections and undermining the rationality of voters. Unhandled hoaxes also have the potential to give birth to social conflict and propaganda.
Problem mapping is a form of Bawaslu’s maximum performance to anticipate various possibilities and problems that arise during elections. Bawaslu certainly has a vital role in providing political literacy and collaborating with the public to be able to hold elections in a peaceful and quality manner.