The waves will be more turbulent -- the clouds are darker. However, on the next trip, the skipper must be replaced because his period of duty has ended.
This political situation is also being faced by this country in welcoming the presidential and vice-presidential elections as well as members of the House of Representatives (DPR), Regional Representatives Council (DPD), Provincial Legislative Councils (DPRD) and Regency/Municipal DPRD which will be held simultaneously on 14 February 2024.
According to the constitution, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's government must end in 2024 and he cannot be reelected, because he has already ruled for two terms. Even though there are still many who are anxious and worried, the change in the government leadership of this republic is inevitable.
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Such anxiety is natural because the geopolitical and geo-economic situation in the post-Russian-Ukrainian war era is increasingly dynamic and unpredictable. In addition, the political temperature continues to heat up in the Taiwan Strait between the United States and China. Now, the supply chain of goods has been disrupted, even disjointed, triggering rising prices of goods, food shortages and causing a global recession. Some call this situation a perfect storm because it happened insistently, following the Covid-19 storm, from whose impact we have not yet recovered.
In contrast, rashly choosing a leader can lead to disaster.
In this era of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) the challenges that the nation will face in the future will be even more complex and unpredictable. It is like wading through an ocean overshadowed by an erratic storm, so the presence of a skilled skipper is indispensable. It is necessary to have a skipper who is able to map and predict the challenges in the future and most importantly builds the cohesiveness of all crew members to work hard and never give up bringing the ship safely through the storm. In contrast, rashly choosing a leader can lead to disaster.
Based on the Kompas Research and Development (Litbang) survey in October 2022, of the three presidential candidate figures who most often claim the top positions, no one has dominated electability. Ganjar Pranowo, Prabowo Subianto and Anies Baswedan are neck-and-neck. Previously, Prabowo was superior. In the last survey, Ganjar excels. Anies is in third place, but the vote is increasing. The three of them seemed to be competing closely with a number of names, such as Ridwan Kamil, Sandiaga Uno, Andika Perkasa and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.
If it were, the fate of Indonesia's 270 million people would be at stake.
This situation should not then encourage presidential candidates and political parties to justify all means for the sake of winning the election. In fact, this situation needs to be used by the presidential candidates to further demonstrate their expertise in providing solutions so that the Nusantara ship is not swayed by storm waves, but is closer to the land of hope, namely Golden Indonesia 2045.
Sukarno, the founding father of the nation, once warned that elections should not be the site of battle. If it were, the fate of Indonesia's 270 million people would be at stake.
(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)
