By : Elisabeth Titania Dionne )*
A successful general election must certainly get support from many parties. Election security is not only the responsibility of election organizers or participants, but also requires the active role of all levels of society.
In order to strengthen commitment in efforts to maintain election security. The General Election Commission (KPU) and the Indonesian National Police ( Polri ) agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding to create a safe and quality 2024 election.
Hasyim Asy’ari as Chair of the KPU said that the signing of the memorandum of understanding was aimed at establishing cooperation to secure the circuit election activities .
Apart from that, the cooperation is also related to the duties of the police for the security of a number of people a special stage, namely the process of printing the distribution of ballots from companies that print them to polling stations.
Hasyim said that the KPU welcomed this activity, which in fact was not a new situation between the police and the KPU, from time to time updating the memorandum of understanding because the situations that would be faced in holding elections were new situations.
National Police Chief Gen. Pol. Listyo Sigit Prabowo conveyed that the memorandum of understanding was a manifestation of the synergy between the Indonesian National Police and the KPU in holding the 2024 Simultaneous Elections.
Of course this synergy is not only at the center, but runs in all parts of Indonesia. The series of implementation activities that will be carried out by the KPU, KPUD, can really go well, especially in the implementation of the 2024 Election.
The National Police Chief also expressed his hope that reflection on the 2019 Election could become an evaluation for all. At that time, hundreds of organizers involved experienced health problems until they died.
Listyo said, the unfortunate incident in 2019 where the holding of the General Election took lives, of course it must be an evaluation for all, because if you look at it now the number of participating political parties has also increased, so that from the people’s point of view voting requires more time, the next process will also follow, therefore of course these things must really be anticipated.
Other problems that need to be anticipated are logistics delivery, identity politics and other forms that could have an impact on the decline of both democracy and the nation on the other side.
National Police Chief also made an appeal to all parties, including election participants, to jointly succeed in the 2024 General Election becoming a quality democratic party so that the elected individuals can continue the positive achievements that have been achieved so far .
By maintaining a safe and peaceful General Election, Sigit said that later Indonesia could become an example for other countries in creating a conducive democratic climate.
He also invited all elements of the nation to learn from the experience of holding previous elections. So that in 2024 there will no longer be polarization, identity politics, SARA and other things that can damage the unity and integrity of the nation.
Sigit also said that currently Indonesia is in a very good position, because it is in fifth place among the G-20 countries. He also said that all elements of society must continue to maintain positive trends in order to realize Indonesia Gold.
The moments of 2024 and 2029 will certainly be important consolidation stages to achieve democratic maturity in Indonesia. The next two elections, namely 2024 and 2029, must be stages of consolidating democracy. Where electoral institutions have become stronger so that the process of holding elections has also been simplified, especially by adopting digital technology and increasing opportunities for electoral participation to actively engage in dialogue on strategic issues.
In the implementation of the 2024 elections, it is hoped that election organizers will be able to commit to carrying them out properly so that democracy continues to exist and is of higher quality, of course the 2024 elections are expected to give birth to a government that has strong legitimacy.
The implementation of campaigns, either directly or through social media, is often colored by identity politics. Apart from having a negative impact on the process of consolidating Indonesian democracy, this has also resulted in polarization which disrupts the integration of the Indonesian nation.
So to prevent Identity Politics and polarization in the upcoming 2024 Election, policy makers need to map and determine strategic steps to reduce the practice of Identity politics.
Identity politics is of course a threat in itself and has the potential to disrupt security during elections and even after elections. Moreover, identity politics has the potential to divide the nation and hinder the development of democracy.
The existence of identity politics which continues to be fueled by various sentiments, of course, will slow down the development of democracy in Indonesia.
The government’s efforts to safeguard the security of the 2024 elections certainly deserve support from the public. The public, of course, can report all forms of violations that exist in the 2024 election. This is intended so that elections can continue to be carried out in the context of finding new leaders.
Of course, the government and civil society have an obligation to safeguard the 2024 elections, because elections are not the wish of just one group, but the desire of many people in Indonesia.
)* The author is a Gelora Media Institute Contributor
