Ahead of the 2024 elections there is the potential for social chaos due to intolerance. Therefore, people are urged to maintain unity and avoid intolerance. This is done by changing the mindset for the better, so that there is no fear in facing other people who have different backgrounds or beliefs. With a change in mindset, peace will be realized in Indonesia and the 2024 elections will be successful.
General elections (Pemilu) will be held in 2024 but must be prepared from now so that later it will go well. All parties play a major role in creating peaceful elections and collaborate in order to create peaceful elections. Peace must be maintained so that elections can take place smoothly without any riots.
To realize peaceful elections, what must be fought is intolerance. Peaceful elections must be realized without any riots due to the spread of intolerance, both in the real world and in cyberspace.
Since Indonesia entered the reformation period (1998 onwards) there has been a change in the mindset of society. In the past, they were afraid when they would convey their aspirations to the New Order rulers. But when it changed to the Reformation Order, people could freely express their opinions. However, this freedom is misused because it is made into a weapon to attack other parties who have different ethnicities or beliefs, thus giving rise to intolerance.
Executive Director of the Leimena Institute (IL) Matthew Ho said that in efforts to combat intolerance, stereotypes and discrimination, we should not only focus on fighting our actions but also our mindset. The way to fight the mindset of intolerance actors is through positive narratives.
Matthew Ho added, when a person’s mind is dominated by fear or hatred towards other people because of wrong information, it is not only the other person’s dignity that is being lowered, but also himself. This mindset will actually hinder his growth as a human being in accordance with his dignity.
Then, the big challenge ahead of the 2024 Election is how to fight efforts to control the human mind with various manipulations of information and teachings to demean other humans. Manipulation through propaganda can poison people’s mindset so that they become intolerant figures. In fact, intolerance is very dangerous because it can trigger riots and potentially derail elections.
Therefore, the public is urged to change their mindset so that they do not easily believe in hoax content and propaganda, which contain calls for intolerance. Change of mindset is very important because it determines the success of the election.
For example, in the past there was an assumption that certain ethnic groups were despised because they had a lot of money, which sparked social jealousy. A narrative of intolerance emerges that denies their existence. Even though the ethnicity has the status of an Indonesian citizen (WNI), even though their physical characteristics are different. They also have high nationalism and are proud to be Indonesian citizens.
Another example is when there are groups that have different beliefs. They as minorities should have the same rights in elections, because they also have the status of Indonesian citizens. However, provocateurs create a narrative of intolerance so that they are hated and denied the right to vote in the 2024 elections.
To overcome the narrative of intolerance that invites hostility towards ethnic groups and groups with different beliefs, people need to change their mindset. Remember that since Indonesia became independent in 1945, this country has consisted of many tribes, backgrounds, ethnicities and beliefs. The motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika must be implemented because it will unite various differences in Indonesia.
By changing the mindset, people will avoid dangerous narratives of intolerance. They will not be easily influenced by provocateurs and will maintain Indonesian unity. Later a conducive atmosphere will be created so that there will be no riots either in the real world or on social media.
Ahead of the 2024 Election, the atmosphere must be conditioned so that it remains conducive. The reason is because when there is rioting it can disrupt the smooth running of the election. Therefore, the public is asked not to get angry easily and not be easily influenced by content containing intolerance on social media.
Meanwhile, KPU chairman Rahmat Bagja stated that intolerance has the potential to occur in the 2024 election. So he feels this potential can be suppressed by working together with the Forum for Religious Harmony (FKUB).
In that sense, FKUB collaborates with Bawaslu in realizing elections that are peaceful and free of intolerance. With the appeal from FKUB, everyone is aware that even though their beliefs are different, they have the same rights during elections. Then there will be no hostility ahead of the election (especially during the campaign period) because all parties are united, even though they have different beliefs. The key to fighting intolerance ahead of the 2024 elections is to maintain unity and change mindsets. The public is advised not to be easily influenced by provocateurs who spread hoax and propaganda content, which invites acts of intolerance. They remained united and achieved peaceful elections so that this five-yearly event was successful without any interference from provocateurs.
