CIDDIS – In addition to security and peace factors, one indicator of a successful election was held was the high participation of the people to exercise their right to vote. In the implementation of the 2019 General Election, efforts were needed to make the community enthusiastic to come to the polling station. The General Election Commission is targeting 77.5% of voter participation in the 2019 General Election. This figure is far higher than the 2014 Presidential Election which was only 69.58% of the 75% target. While for the 2014 Pileg held separately participation reached 75.11%. Factors that can make voter participation increase include massive socialization to the community, as well as a guarantee that the elections will run safely and peacefully.
To create a peaceful general election, candidates and candidate pairs need to be committed to creating a safe and peaceful situation during the election process. On the other hand, the neutrality of the organizers must also be upheld, both the General Election Commission and the Election Supervisory Board. Likewise, security forces need to be neutral and avoid the impression of siding with one side of the candidate pair. Neutral attitudes from the police and the military are very necessary because the issue of partiality will easily ignite a public reaction that has the potential to trigger anarchic and destructive actions.
Political elite is also important to avoid making controversial statements that are prone to spark noise. This campaign period is more elegant if it is used to introduce and further bring vision and mission, as well as programs from each presidential candidate to vice-presidential candidates. On social media the supporters need to avoid all activities that are mutually impinging, especially by using hoax information and utterances of hatred. The familiarity shown by the Jokowi-Ma’ruf and Prabowo-Sandi pair at the declaration of the peaceful general election campaign should inspire supporters of the two camps to be more competitive in a healthy manner without having to drop each other.
The 2019 General Election held simultaneously will determine the future direction of Indonesia’s democracy. For this reason, it is very necessary for the contestants to be ready to accept whatever the results of the general election, whether in the condition of winning or losing. This is because the willingness of the contestants can determine the attitude of their supporters. If the content does not accept the results of the general election, it is not impossible if the supporters carry out an anarchist nuance of protest.
By: Mirwan Achmad *)
