By: Gema Iva Kirana )*
The community needs to contribute and work together to prevent identity politics ahead of the 2024 elections. Don’t let identity politics and issues of ethnicity, religion, race and inter-group (SARA) ruin the election procession.
The 2024 elections must be successful in order to achieve democracy in Indonesia. The people welcomed the election with great fanfare and they voted orderly at the TPS (Polling Place) on February 14 2024. They wanted to ensure that the election was peaceful and peaceful without any hostility in this country.
However, ahead of the election there is the issue of identity politics which could threaten its success. Identity politics is a situation when a politician uses identities such as beliefs, race, background, as a distinction from others. When there is identity politics, the bad impact is that only people from the same race or background will support it, then insult other people for having different identities.
Therefore, all parties are working together to prevent identity politics in the 2024 elections. Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Body) member Lolly Suhenty stated that Bawaslu hopes for support from religious figures in preventing identity politics.
Lolly continued, Bawaslu must have a clear reference for supervising campaigns without identity politics. Moreover, the public has high hopes for Bawaslu to prevent and take action against alleged campaign violations that use the politicization of SARA. Therefore, Bawaslu hopes that there will be a special article in the Election Law that discusses the meaning and dangers of identity politics, along with its penalties.
When Bawaslu prevents identity politics, the community is expected to work together. The aim is to make the 2024 elections a success. The public is urged to reject identity politics and work together to avoid it. Collaboration to prevent identity politics was carried out with several parties such as Bawaslu, KPU (General Election Commission), and security forces.
It is feared that the issue of identity politics is increasing among society. This division cannot be tolerated at any stage of the annual election. Don’t let any group or faction raise the issue of identity politics. This can cause polarization in society.
Identity politics is very dangerous because it can consider people who do not share the same belief or ethnicity as enemies. It can even be used by a politician to bring down his political opponents. The way to do this is by leading public opinion that a presidential candidate is not worthy of being a leader because he comes from a certain ethnicity.
When there is a campaign that uses identity politics, it is dangerous because it can give rise to discrimination and racism. There is a stereotype that assumes that presidential candidates from certain ethnicities are stingy. In fact, this is just an accusation that is not based on facts, and was made by provocateurs who wanted to disrupt the election period in Indonesia.
When someone from a legislative candidate’s success team uses the issue of identity politics, the public can immediately report it to Bawaslu and the security forces. When the case has been investigated, there will no longer be any individuals who use identity politics as a weapon to win legislative candidates in the elections.
Meanwhile, the issue of identity politics attracted the attention of one of the DIY Islamic Organization figures, namely Ustad Umar Said. He hopes that people can restrain themselves. That way, there will be no turmoil in the 2024 elections that could lead to a split.
Ustad Umar Said stated that in fact division could not be tolerated at any annual stage of the elections. He hopes that no group or group will raise the issue of identity politics. Because this can cause polarization in society.
Identity Politics is nothing new in the democratic era. This is used as a way to get as many votes as possible in the 2019 election. This strategy has a big risk if carried out excessively, which will trigger the disintegration of the nation. This phenomenon is very serious because the strengthening of identity politics accompanied by the incessant spread of hoaxes seriously threatens the unity and integrity of the Indonesian nation.
Ustad Umar also hopes that no politicians will campaign using identity politics. All participants in the 2024 Election must act wisely when making statements to the public. Don’t let this statement lead public opinion into the realm of division, and politicians must be able to control themselves.
In that sense, identity politics is dangerous because it is used as a wrong campaign tool. When a politician favors his tribe, he has the potential to insult other tribes. As a result, the issue of SARA has spread again in Indonesia and can cause divisions in society. Therefore, all parties are obliged to work together to prevent identity politics, for the sake of national unity and a peaceful 2024 election.
With synergy between the community, Bawaslu, and religious leaders, the issue of identity politics can be eliminated in Indonesia. Identity politics must be avoided because it has the potential to cause riots and destroy peaceful elections. The 2024 elections must be successful and there is collaboration to achieve this, one of which is by creating an anti-identity politics program.
)* The author is a contributor to the Persada Institute
