In order to realize peace, prosperity and tranquility in the upcoming 2024 general elections, we can face the threat of intolerance by managing democratic elections. The democratic process must be managed well, because one of the threats of division is intolerance which becomes the seeds of radicalism.
Contestations for the upcoming 2024 election need to be carefully watched and must not be ignored, because opinions in all corners of Indonesia are not all the same. Our beloved country, Indonesia was born from a society that is heterogeneous, namely having a variety of diversity ranging from culture, language, ethnicity, religion, to race. Likewise, the opinions and thoughts they have also differ from each other. However, we also have a national ideology, namely Pancasila. Even though we all have differences , we are still one.
Significant differences , especially in a country that has wide diversity like Indonesia. With these differences, threats such as intolerance and radicalism will definitely emerge, especially since a general election will be held involving hundreds of millions of Indonesian people. These potentials can be minimized or even avoided with various efforts offered to maintain the unity and integrity of the Indonesian nation.
According to the Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Komjen Rycko Amelza Dahniel, said that the intolerance factor is the main seed of radicalism, if it is not managed well there will be frictions in society. Referring to the results of the Kompas R&D survey in 2023, it shows that intolerance is in first place as a factor causing societal polarization ahead of the upcoming 2024 elections. This intolerance factor really needs to be watched out for, because hoaxes, divisive politics, and so on will follow behind.
Referring to the survey, the survey results showed that 56 percent of the total respondents were worried about political polarization during the upcoming 2024 elections, then 27.1 percent of respondents thought that mutual disrespect (intolerance) was the main source of polarization during the elections. Not only that, another factor that triggers political polarization comes from social media through hoax (lie) news which is represented by 22 percent. Therefore, the whole community must restore a sense of tolerance and maintain this feeling so that divisions do not occur in society.
Furthermore , Rycko explained that the intolerance that is spreading in Indonesia grows from the results of ideological movements carried out by the roots of terrorist cells which are carried out massively, systematically and structured. Along with this, the former National Police Education and Training Head said that there were mechanisms that could combat intolerance. Starting from the government, religious leaders, academics, the media, to the whole community together to build self-awareness and national resilience. Not only that, to create a democratic party that contains peace for the entire community, a healthy democratic climate must also be created. All parties must be involved to build this awareness.
Apart from that, all Indonesian people also need to build and increase the strengthening of tolerance in society. One way to overcome intolerance that spreads in society is by using religious moderation. The public needs to know well the meaning of moderation itself. Once you understand moderation, feelings of tolerance will emerge by themselves. The two cannot be separated, because with religious moderation a person will understand and appreciate the differences that exist.
Religious moderation However, before discussing religious moderation further, do people know the meaning of religious moderation itself? It is stated that religious moderation is a religious perspective, attitude and behavior that is adopted and practiced by society. In other words, religious moderation believes in the truth of one’s own religion and appreciates and respects adherents of other religions who believe in their religion without having to justify or blame them .
As a good citizen, we need to have literacy and a deep understanding of democracy and things that could threaten the division of the nation. The 2024 election has great potential for intolerance, which is why it must be avoided. Moreover, when religion is politicized and manifested in identity politics, it is of course very dangerous because it causes national divisions. Where will our nation go if the people do not have a sense of unity and unity?
Thus , currently Indonesia really needs a generation of people who are aware of unity and integrity, especially ahead of the political year which has triggered intolerance, radicalism and political polarization. Working together to maintain the unity and unity of the nation must also be done in order to create a happy democratic party for the people. For this reason, let’s strengthen how to manage our democracy well, so that unity and unity will be maintained and intolerance can be overcome.