We must prepare to dismantle the general assumption about the Indonesian nation as a forgetful nation that is easily lulled by appearance.
By
Bivitri Susanti
·5 minutes read
SALOMO TOBING
Bivitri Susanti
The stage of the presidential election show is increasingly open with the announcement of the prospective presidential candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Unfortunately, the people are still spectators on the outskirts. The names that arise may be the topic of discussion while eating Idul Fitri ketupat (Javanese rice cake wrapped in woven palm leaf), but for the rest we can only read the survey results.
Like a typical political survey, electability is interpreted as the popularity of prospective presidential candidates (and prospective vice presidential candidates). Electability is important for prospective candidates and their parties, but in fact it hides a big problem in Indonesian politics.
In many democratic countries, electability is caused by a candidate's response regarding issues that are considered important, such as matters like sexual violence or concrete programs for reducing coal-powered electricity. Indeed, there are "ideological" voters, or those with high loyalty toward certain parties, but voters can change their choice because of the issues they think are important.
In the United States, the existence of an internal party convention allows voters to see the position of internal party candidates. Even though in the end the party determines the candidates, debating ideas is held openly from the beginning of the contest. After the candidates from the parties are selected, other presidential debates which are also substantive are held. In Germany, the leaders of political parties and strong candidates for the chancellor are also invited to debate important issues for voters.
The Indonesian election system still emphasizes pseudo popularity. There is only about two-and-a-half months of campaigning (28 November 2023-10 February 2024).
As for the campaign, it takes the form of a general meeting, which provides less than a month as space to debate, namely between 21 January and 10 February 2024. For the rest, the campaign can only be used for limited meetings, face-to-face meetings, distribution of campaign materials for props installation. The General Elections Commission (KPU) usually holds debates at the end of the campaign period. However, the event is more visible as a campaign ceremony with the cheers of supporters than the dialectics of ideas.
Frequently voters know the candidates because the candidates are often visible on billboards, mass media or social media.
Meanwhile, the party owners of the nomination ticket, namely the political parties, or combination of political parties, that won 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives, or 25 percent of the national valid votes in the elections five years ago, base their nomination on political bargaining among themselves. It is often said that the base is electability. However, what is electability if popularity is based only on artificial knowledge about the candidate?
Frequently voters know the candidates because the candidates are often visible on billboards, mass media or social media. In fact, it often happens that appearing on social media is done not in order to discuss important issues, but just to attend a big celebration or distribute prizes. This kind of pseudo popularity can be worked on by institutions of political communication consultants. We understand, surveys can also be used for the purpose of raising electability.
If electability is only popularity and popularity can be built, it could be that what is discussed at a closed meeting is not electability, but other questions related to logistics alias preparation of campaign funds and other political issues, such as comfort and political security.
So, how should we measure presidential candidates? Daniel Dhakidae (2000) once described three devices that are useful for assessing the quality of politicians' performances in order to process and execute the power of speech by House members, but the points of importance are relevant for politicians in general.
The first thing that needs to be analysed is the politician’s political sensibility (political sensitivity). Second, to enable this sensibility to function optimally, it must be supported by distinctive basic ability, namely technical ability that is interpreted as "... knowledge of and awareness of the responsibility of a member of the council regarding his rights and obligations."
There are three important elements in the quality of this technical ability, namely knowledge of rights and obligations and awareness of the ethos, ethics and etiquette as representatives of the people. Third, the ability of the method, namely the ability of representatives of the people to capture information, work on it and then process it in policy making.
The three points above can only be assessed by looking at the candidate's track record, in addition to his views on the latest issues. The candidate's track record is not only behavior, but also his consistency in his views. This is useful for us to measure whether the program he proposes will be an empty promise or not.
Meanwhile, it is important to encourage changes to the electoral system and reform of political parties for next year's elections, we must prepare to dismantle the general assumption about the Indonesian nation as a forgetful nation that is easily lulled by appearance.
Before choosing, we must look at the track record of, and candidates' views on, important issues as a guide.
BIVITRI SUSANTI, Lecturer at the Jentera Indonesia School of Law
