By. Dr. Emrus Sihombing
When a presidential candidate (Balonpres) for the 2024 presidential election, Anies Baswedan (AB), for example, questions small or trivial matters. One of them is comparing the performance of President Sosilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), and at the same time conveying a message to the public that he (AB) is not confident and not independent in thinking and acting as the Presidential Candidate. Concerned. Why?
Talking about trivial things, shows that he is very weak from a leadership , managerial and independence standpoint. This is because a candidate for Balonpres who will become president absolutely must have strong leadership characteristics and management skills and have independence, not be under the influence of a certain figure, for example SBY.
This is because such a Presidential Balloon shows that the person concerned has no big thoughts and ideas about Indonesia for five years and that will have an impact on the future for Greater Indonesia, after he is no longer president. Therefore, it is better for AB from now on to appreciate all the performance of the current and previous presidents, while offering big ideas for people’s welfare amidst global competition in all areas of human life. Instead of dealing with/discussing things that give rise to unproductive polemics.
Balonpres from the Coalition for Change and Unity, AB said that the construction of non-toll national roads under the leadership of President Sosilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) was longer than that of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). This comparison is clearly an act of communication framing. Why? AB did not present a comparison of road area and quality of road construction at all. AB only sees long quantitative data. From the point of view of the quality of road construction, for example, AB did not mention at all what percentage of the length of the road could have been damaged (wavy, waterlogged and muddy during the rainy season) prematurely. AB also did not reveal how the people and truck and public transport drivers who passed on the damaged road suffered. Thus, clearly AB is very unfair. AB has a practical political agenda.
If you want to be objective, AB must conduct an in-depth and holistic study before presenting a comparison of (road) development during the SBY and Jokowi administrations. If it is found that there is a discrepancy with the building budget plan (damaged roads), AB must explain why a number of lengths of roads were destroyed prematurely, for example, so AB can state potential losses to the state from road construction. Based on these findings, it is possible for AB to report to the KPK potential acts of corruption regarding road construction during certain government periods. Thus, AB acts fairly and is pro-people.
In addition, even if AB must make a comparison, make an equal comparison in all sectors of physical and social development from quantitative and qualitative aspects with a set of instruments that have been tested for the validity, reliability and validity of the data. Never make comparisons like talking in a coffee shop. This is because AB is a candidate for Presidential Candidates, not someone who is “hanging out” in a palm wine lapo.
Balonpres AB praising the performance of President SBY who is currently the general chairman (Ketum) of the party who may later support him to become Balonpres, whether he realizes it or not, Balonpres AB is tantamount to positioning himself as a subordinate of President SBY and at the same time has the potential to be interpreted as AB as a puppet of party that will carry it.
Obviously, this kind of Balonpres figure when he becomes president (of course if elected), he is very, very weak and tends to be powerless. It could indeed be as if they were created to be “powerful” by conveying communication messages to the public space by saying “instructions and or directions from Mr. President”. In fact, all his actions were the product of control from outside the palace. He tends to position himself as a wayang that is directed via ” remote control” by the puppeteer on the backstage of politics.
When the president has an office in the palace, there is a great opportunity for three remote control holders in three different locations, perhaps from the Proklamasi, Gondangdia, and Pasar Minggu areas who are in control of directing the president to think, plan, make policies, act and so on. It becomes completely driven from these three locations. What made him even more dizzy when the wishes of the three holders of ” remote control ” directed him to different political “winds”. People’s welfare is no longer the main agenda, but only as a side effect.
For this reason, whoever Balonpres, including AB, absolutely has and must put forward big thoughts and ideas to realize people’s welfare in all fields to make this country Indonesia Raya, not discussing trivial things.
There are at least five big thoughts and ideas that I propose to the Balonpres, especially AB, which can be carried out simultaneously for the welfare of the people. First, offer development, at least based on industrial technology 4.0, if possible with industrial technology 6.0. Second, make concrete policies and programs to welcome the demographic bonus that will occur in Indonesia. Third, offering a clean economy by using new and renewable energy . Fourth, offering a green economy , namely an industry with high efficiency and productivity as well as low emission . Fifth, offering a blue economy. Indonesia with its extraordinary wealth of seas and beaches, thus generating a very large amount of the country’s foreign exchange. These five big thoughts must be reduced to a measurable program level and present various strategies to make it happen.
*The author is an Indonesian Communicologist