By: Rahmat Zaki Walad) *
Differences in Indonesian society are not new, Indonesia stands because of the sense of unity of all nations and religions in the archipelago. This has become the foundation for the founding fathers to embed the motto of Unity in Diversity as a sentence gripped by Garuda Pancasila workers.
But unfortunately the political elites seem neglected by the sense of unity that has existed for decades, they sharpen the difference of choice with the frame of hate speech that is prone to horizontal conflicts.
Provocation efforts were also widely echoed to choose certain candidates, attack each other, accuse each other in the social media universe.
The development of information technology seems to bring society into an era of post truth, where people no longer seek truth based on facts, but define truth by seeking justification, confirmation and support for their own beliefs.
No matter what is wrong or right, as long as you get a lot of support, then something that is still vague will be justified and echoed in order to get greater support.
As long as information seems insignificant, the truth or error of information is unthinkable.
Communities in Indonesia have been trapped in the vortex of the Echo Chamber where echoes on social media become post truth phenomena based on emotions, regardless of whether the news is hoax or not, flawed in logic, or not.
This phenomenon is compounded by the increasingly deafening propaganda, the frenzied campaign of the presidential and legislative elections, and continues to be exploited by the political elite. Where they forget that the conflict created to achieve an electoral victory often continues years later, reaching the grassroots community.
The 2019 election still leaves a residual polarization, even though campaign flags and billboards have disappeared from village and city street views. It is appropriate for the campaign to be a venue for fighting programs, but black campaigns still emerge, both through online media and print media distributed in every mosque.
Claims for presidential victory on the basis of an internal survey, of course, become a separate record for the election. This claim is then agreed upon by loyal followers, although in reality, the results of the quick count survey from various institutions indicate that the challenger candidates have not been able to surpass the incumbent candidates.
In addition, the role of religion is also important in relaxing post-election tensions, religious leaders are not only tasked with preaching, but also play a role in explaining the spirit of unity and tolerance.
It is time for the main political elites to take part in the General Election, so that they can meet each other, chat and laugh to reconcile the fraternity that might have been tenuous because of the 2019 Presidential Election that drew the attention of the Indonesian people.
Differences in choice and political views are a dynamic of demographic maturity, where each participant will be tested when the victors are able to act wisely and the losers are able to breed. All parties involved are certainly expected to be able to see all issues in proportion.
PBFU Tanfdziyah Daily Chairperson, Robikin Emhas called on all political elites in the 2019 Presidential Election coalition coalition to actively participate in reducing tension between supporters, because, as community leaders, it is only natural that they become exemplary figures for their followers.
“Political elites, community leaders and religious leaders must give an example to the community,” said Robikin.
He also added that the political elite had a role in reducing the political tension that had heated up in the past campaign period, so that the two candidates for the Presidential Candidates – vice presidential candidate could show an attitude of statesmanship by upholding unity.
One step that we can do is not provoked by various utterances, don’t be easy to hate just because of different choices, whoever the president is, the role of national development is not only carried out by the President, but development can begin with yourself.
After various frenzied campaigns in various media, of course now is the time for the political elite and we all return to being one. Back to being friends, friends, relatives, neighbors regardless of differences or camp 01 or 02. We all have a role to jointly care for the motto of Unity in Diversity, as has been mandated by the founding fathers of this nation, to realize Indonesian Independence.
) * The author is a sociopolitical observer
