By: Naufal Putra Bratajaya )*
All elements of society must be able to work together in order to realize a peaceful election without intolerance because it can lead to radicalism and identity politics which seriously damage the climate and conduciveness of democracy in Indonesia.
Radicalism is a school of thought or understanding which can be said that its followers really want rooted social and political change or renewal and even use all means to achieve this goal, including violent or very drastic methods. Meanwhile, intolerance itself is the beginning of the formation of radicalism.
It is undeniable that the issue of intolerance and identity politics can continue to run rampant, not only in Indonesia, but also in several countries. For the country itself, this issue is influenced by many other factors, not just a single factor such as religion, economy or education, but many other factors that allow a person to be exposed to the virus of radicalism including psychological factors.
There are still several groups that are intolerant and also radical, of course this also greatly influences how the democratic climate in Indonesia is, especially ahead of the general election (Election) in the upcoming 2024. They did not hesitate to be able to destroy the peace and conduciveness of the democratic party.
In fact, it is not uncommon for these radical groups to deliberately ride the momentum of the election to encourage certain candidate leaders to achieve the goals they want so that the course of the election contestation will only be colored by clashes of hatred with each other so that they usually focus on identity politics, without the same once really trying to see how the program and vision and mission of the prospective leader.
Therefore, it is very important to continue to maintain a conducive climate and also peace in the 2024 Election. One of the efforts to be able to continue to maintain this for the sake of upholding democracy and also respecting people’s sovereignty is carried out directly by Bawaslu, Forkopimda to the Leaders of Political Parties in Ternate City who held peaceful and dignified elections.
One of the contents of the pledge for peaceful and dignified elections is to continue to call on all people not to simply spread hate speech offhand and hoax issues including those involving sara, intolerance and religious radicalism and to make much more use of various media facilities. social media to other public means intelligently and much more responsibly.
Meanwhile, Ternate Police Chief AKBP Andik Purnomo Sigit explained that the purpose of the Bawaslu was indeed to better regulate the trajectory of democracy. Therefore, he then appealed to all stakeholders (stakeholders) to be able to compete with ideas and knowledge, do not let the prospective leaders who take part in the election contestation actually do not compete using their ideas at all but ride on the advantages of certain identity politics that are carried and played. .
The Ternate Police Chief added that indeed many people really wanted to be able to win the contest for the democratic party and occupy certain positions or seats, therefore, they must be able to win the hearts of the people who want to vote for them with ideas, programs and visions and missions that are very pro to the interests of the people.
Furthermore, he also reminded all components of society to continue to be able to instill good democratic values. In fact, he promised and has a strong commitment that his staff are also responsible for instilling values and educating the public so that when the upcoming 2024 elections occur, they can indeed proceed in a much more orderly, honest and fair manner.
On another occasion, the Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Commissioner General of Police Boy Rafli Amar asked all people to continue to increase their self-awareness against various types of intolerance threats, especially ahead of the 2024 General Election event, which later has the potential to lead to politics. identity.
The threat of intolerance and also the potential to lead to identity politics, even today, according to him, is still one of the concerns. The reason is, if intolerance continues to exist, it will very easily lead to identity politics and also be able to drag people’s thinking patterns.
Then, the Head of the BNPT explained that usually the characteristics of people who are affected by identity politics due to intolerance are actually a number of communities which are full of conflict. Not without reason, because too many conflicts have occurred so they really want these conflicts not to happen again, giving rise to intolerance because they always want uniformity.
For this reason, intolerance, which can give rise to radicalism to identity politics, is a very serious threat to the climate and conduciveness of democracy in Indonesia. So it is very important for all elements of society to be able to work together to realize a peaceful election.
)* The author is a contributor to the Inti Media Institute
