CIDISS. Year 2018 touted as the political year. In addition to being the last year for political parties (Political Parties) to prepare for elections (elections) and presidential election in 2019, this year will also be held elections regional head simultaneously. To that end, the government has set up preventive measures to prevent conflict on the implementation of pilkada through various ways.
One of the most ‘hot’ elections with high political tension during 2017 was the election of DKI Jakarta. 2018 election in various regions of Indonesia, will not be like in the capital city. Therefore, there are no triggers that could lead to various friction as bad as DKI Jakarta Governor Election.
The 2018 simultaneous elections held in 171 regions (17 provinces, 115 districts and 39 cities) appear to be more interesting than the 2017 elections. The dynamics of the elections simultaneously a year ago were drowned out by the frenetic domination of Jakarta governor elections characterized by issues and SARA-based sentiments ( tribe, religion, race, and intergroup). So crowded news and public discussions related to the attractiveness of candidate pair in Jakarta Governor Election so as if 2017 election of regional head only took place in the nation’s capital. In fact, at the same time, the elections took place simultaneously in 101 districts covering 7 provinces, 76 districts and 18 cities in Indonesia.
In contrast to the 2017 election of regional head which tends to be centered on the Jakarta Pilgub, the atmosphere of competition has been noticeable in some areas in the elections in 2018, both in Java and outside Java. Competition is very tight at least take place in five main provinces, namely West Java, East Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, and South Sulawesi. This is interesting because the five provinces have the highest number of voters in total, totaling 108.2 million voters or about 67 percent of the approximately 160.7 million voters in the 2018 election. In theory, the ability of political parties or coalitions of political parties to win pilkada in the five provinces is estimated has a chance to win the 2019 presidential election.
Although there is no need for excessive worries over the implementation of elections simultaneously. However, there needs to be awareness and participation from every element of society to maintain security and peace in the implementation of the 2018 election which will be held this June.
