Focus on Overcoming the Pandemic, Postpone Political Maneuvering

TANGKAPAN LAYAR AKUN INSTAGRAM RIDWAN KAMIL

Screenshot of Ridwan Kamil\'s Instagram account regarding the meeting of West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil meeting with DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, in Sumedang, Friday (11/6/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in a number of regions, the political year seems to have arrived even though the General Election 2024 is still about 2.5 years away. This condition is felt from several maneuvers carried out by a number of political party leaders as well as regional heads and political elites whose names are often mentioned in a number of surveys of presidential candidates for the General Elections 2024.

For reasons such as to stay in touch or establish interregional cooperation programs, they began to hold a number of meetings. This, among other things, was seen when on Friday (11/6/2021), Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan met West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil in Sumedang, West Java. In the previous week, Kamil met the general chairman of the Golkar Party, Airlangga Hartarto, and the general chairman of Democratic Party, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.

Some time ago there was also discussion regarding Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, who was not invited to an event organized by his party, namely the PDI-P (the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle), in Semarang, Central Java, 22 May. The discussion was related to the General Election 2024.

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At the same time, a number of political parties began to intensely promote their members. Golkar, for example, seems to be starting to intensely introduce Airlangga. A number of political parties began to diligently hold meetings with other political parties, such as the Prosperous Justice Party.

With regard to this, the General Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Central Executive Board, Haedar Nasir, when contacted from Jakarta, Tuesday (15/6), reminded that the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the last few days should make regional heads and political elites concentrate more on optimizing their role in mitigating the pandemic. They should synergize to ease the burden on the people.

"Politicians and political elites have ethical and national responsibilities to pay more attention and cooperate to overcome the pandemic," he said.

Dynamic politics, Haedar further said, does require politicians to win public sympathy. However, this should not necessarily ignore the wider public interest. "It becomes problematic when it\'s just chasing popularity," he said.

Politicians and political elites have ethical and national responsibilities to pay more attention and cooperate to overcome the pandemic.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRSETYADI

Hundreds of PDI-P cadres welcomed the visit of the Chairperson of the Central Executive Board for Political and Security Affairs of PDI-P, Puan Maharani, on Monday (7/6/2021) in Manado, North Sulawesi.

He emphasized that there would be time for political elites or political parties to carry out political maneuvers. However, this momentum is not now when the condition of the Covid-19 pandemic worsens.

At the opening of the National Leadership Meeting of the Jokowi 2021 National Secretariat, some time ago, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo disclosed a similar message to his volunteer supporters in the last election. The President invited volunteers to focus on helping the government overcome the pandemic and postpone supporting the presidential candidates for 2024.

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Professor of Political Science at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta Saiful Mujani said the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis due to the pandemic were a challenge and a test for the central and regional governments. This condition requires a prominent role from the state.

If state officials pass the exam, they can get a positive assessment from the public. As a result, if there are those who wish to run in the Presidential Election 2024, their steps will be easier. However, if it fails, it will be difficult to gain public support.

Political party instructions

A number of political parties also claimed to have instructed their cadres to focus on mitigating the pandemic. PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto, for example, said the surge in Covid-19 patients was very worrying and the impact of the pandemic had reached people\'s basic lives.

“All party members and members are assigned to focus on helping the people. Regarding various political engineering related to presidential and vice presidential candidates, there is no need to respond," he added.

According to the deputy chairman of the United Development Party, Arsul Sani, in the context of democratic rights, political parties or individuals inside or outside political parties are not wrong if they start to carry out political maneuvers for 2024. However, at this time it is considered not right. Especially amid a worsening pandemic condition and the difficulties people face in dealing with it.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.