Traditional Leaders Must Support Peaceful Elections
By : Rebecca Marian )*
Traditional leaders are obliged to support the 2024 elections to take place peacefully. They have a moral responsibility as people who are respected by society, so that their actions will be followed by the people. With support from traditional leaders, residents are optimistic that the 2024 elections will be smooth, honest and fair.
General election (Pemilu) is an event in which the people choose their own president, as well as members of the legislature. The election took place with great fanfare. Especially when the people could vote for their own presidential candidates (candidates), after the New Order they could only vote for parties, while the president never changed.
The 2024 election is planned to be held on February 14, 2024. Of the 2 previous elections, people have been fighting on social media because they are too fanatical in supporting certain parties and presidential candidates. This incident should not have happened again in the upcoming elections and traditional leaders also support that the elections take place peacefully.
Suttan Kanjeng Penimbang Muhammad Sani Amit, a traditional leader from Lampung, stated that he supports peaceful elections and rejects money politics in the upcoming 2024 elections. He and all traditional leaders in Central Lampung signed an integrity pact and held a declaration of peaceful elections. This event is fully supported by the Election Supervisory Body (Banwaslu).
Counterweight Kanjeng Suttan Muhammad Sani Amit continued, the purpose of the declaration was to reject money politics and prevent fraud in the 2024 general election. Apart from that, he and other Central Lampung traditional leaders will oversee the election so that it runs peacefully, of course with the synergy of Bawaslu.
In a sense, traditional leaders in Central Lampung have a high commitment to maintaining peace in the upcoming 2024 elections. They also work closely with Banwaslu as the official state institution that oversees the smooth running of elections, both before and after the voting period. With this collaboration, it is hoped that the elections in Central Lampung and its surroundings will run peacefully without any obstacles at all.
Traditional leaders want the election to take place peacefully because this event is very prone to friction. The cause is due to excessive fanaticism of certain political parties or presidential candidates which can lead to brawls, both in the real world and in cyberspace. If traditional leaders declare peaceful elections, their citizens will follow them and they will continue to maintain peace, even if they support a different presidential candidate.
Residents will follow traditional leaders in their area because they are respected and elders. When traditional leaders support peaceful elections, residents will obey them and minimize conflict. They remembered the traditional leader’s message to maintain peace.
The people are aware that the purpose of the General Election is good, namely to find new leaders and members of the legislature, so that Indonesia will be more advanced. Therefore they will keep the peace. Especially when there is a direct example from the traditional leader.
Peace is the key to the success of elections, therefore when there are traditional leaders who support it, it should be appreciated. This means that traditional leaders are very nationalist and support government programs, including elections. They are aware that elections are very important because they will make Indonesia’s future better.
Meanwhile, Mardiono, a traditional leader in Bangka Belitung, stated that he and all other figures support the 2024 elections so that they run peacefully. Hopefully after the 2024 election this nation will be built with local wisdom.
In a sense, religious leaders in Bangka Belitung also support peaceful elections. The reason is because peace must be upheld during elections, both in Bangka Belitung and other areas. There should be no hostilities that occur before or after the election, which are caused by provocateurs or the people themselves.
How horrifying it was when the last Election there was a split between citizens and there were 2 camps that mocked each other. They will fight in cyberspace and attack each other on Twitter, Instagram and other social media. ridicule after ridicule ejected because he felt his presidential candidate was the most correct.
Though warfare in cyberspace is also dangerous because it can spread in the real world. When there are parties who are offended, there will be brawls that result in injuries and destruction of public facilities. Society certainly does not want this bad thing to happen. Therefore they ensure that elections are always peaceful without any friction between supporters of certain parties.
The public realizes that support is needed for presidential candidates and parties to win elections. However, support does not mean that it is permissible to insult other parties, let alone offend SARA (ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup).
We tried to prevent the divisions ahead of the election and afterward so that they would not spread into protracted disputes. Therefore, traditional leaders need to actively socialize with the community to support peaceful elections so that the important agenda for 2024 can run smoothly.