By: Ahmad Dzul Ilmi Muis)*
In accordance with the regulations in force in Indonesia, the entire Government of Indonesia, especially President Joko Widodo, is committed to guaranteeing their neutrality, especially during the 2024 general election and presidential election.
Maintaining the neutrality of the state apparatus is one of the responsibilities of the Government of Indonesia, especially in the upcoming 2024 elections. The contestation in the 2024 election has the potential for irresponsible elements to take advantage of it for the sake of getting lots of votes.
These negatively developing issues that have been exhaled from various irresponsible parties, of course, make people worried, especially recently, the political temperature in the country has been heating up like a fireball.
Senopati Syndicate Executive Director Robi Sugara believes that President Jokowi is able to maintain the neutrality of the state apparatus, TNI and Polri for the benefit of the nation and the state. Apart from that, Robi also said that Jokowi was able to maintain neutrality because it was not because of political party officials or party chairmen who were solely concerned with election contestation.
Nevertheless, President Jokowi can also direct the TNI and Polri to be neutral without being inclined to support certain candidates in the 2024 election. This attitude should indeed be owned by the President as the head of state in order to create a peaceful democracy.
According to Robi, the presence of one of the candidates for the Presidential Candidate who has a military background could have the potential to emotionally affect the professionalism of the TNI, which is active in its behavior.
Not only the TNI, the Polri also has the potential to be used as a supporter for the 2024 presidential election contest from various candidates. Not a few of them tried to attract the TNI and Polri to join the succession team for each candidate.
Furthermore, regarding the affirmation of neutrality, President Jokowi and Vice President Ma’rif Amin have also repeatedly emphasized that all civil servants must be neutral in 2024 election activities which are non-negotiable.
As additional information, ASN has a principle of neutrality as stipulated in Law no. 5 of 2014 concerning ASN. That ASN is prohibited from becoming a member and/or administrator of a political party. ASN is also mandated to be impartial from any form of influence and not to favor the interests of anyone.
Therefore, neutrality was built with the aim that the 2024 Presidential Election will be created in a democratic, cool and of course peaceful manner. The factors that affect the integrity of the state apparatus should be avoided for now.
The role and responsibility of President Jokowi is very important here, the article is to give special commands to the state apparatus so that they maintain the neutrality of the two institutions in the interests of the nation and state.
In fact, the Head of State himself has emphasized that the neutrality of the state apparatus in the implementation of the democratic party and political contestation, the upcoming 2024 General Election (Election) is absolutely beyond doubt and will continue to be maintained.
He has repeatedly conveyed in various forums that it is indeed very important for all state apparatus, including all security apparatus such as the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), Indonesian National Police (Polri) to ASN to really guard the country’s bureaucracy and to be neutral.
In the implementation of the Election itself, it is also very clear that the party authorized to organize a democratic party is the General Election Commission (KPU), in which the Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) here only acts as a supporter who will provide optimal support both from the perspective of security, or help prepare logistics distribution.
In implementation and as a concrete manifestation of how strong the commitment the Head of State has to continue to protect all of his apparatus so that they can behave in a very neutral manner in the implementation of the 2024 Election, President Jokowi has even mandated the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) to continue maintaining and supervising the neutrality of all ASN.
The Minister of PANRB, Abdullah Azwar Anas said that the neutrality of ASN itself was being maintained. His party also guaranteed that all state apparatus would continue to be neutral, because the government had issued a Joint Decree on Guidelines for the Development and Supervision of the Neutrality of ASN Employees in the Implementation of General Elections.
The General Election will soon be held in Indonesia, namely in 2024, where in this democratic party it has become the right of all people in the country to be able to have the opportunity to choose who the future leaders will lead this nation. Therefore, the principles of democracy must also be upheld very highly, one of which is with the strong commitment and real work done by President Jokowi in ensuring that all state apparatus are neutral.
)* The author is an alumnus of FISIP Unair