Indonesia\'s political journey since April 17 has reached the final stage. The General Elections Commission (KPU) has declared Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Ma\'ruf Amin as the president and vice president-elect, respectively, for 2019-2024.
The political competition to become the president and vice president of Indonesia for the 2019-2024 term was fairly hard. Fake news, slander and hoaxes followed the 2019 political journey. Jokowi-Amin\'s victory in the presidential election has also served as a historical test that Indonesia could escape the trap of fake news in the post-truth era.
The announcement by the General Election Commission (KPU) was carried out after the Constitutional Court (MK) rejected all the arguments by the legal team of Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno, led by Bambang Widjojanto. Allegations that the 2019 general election was fraudulent was seen by the court as having no legal reasons. Jokowi-Amin won 55.45 percent of votes with a gap of around 16.9 million votes.
We are grateful that we can pass the steep road of Indonesian politics. We underline the statement from Jokowi-Amin that there is neither “01” nor “02” camps. A pluralistic Indonesian nation cannot be built by a single group. Explicitly, Jokowi invited Prabowo and Sandiaga, his rivals in the presidential election, to jointly develop the nation.
"We are open to anyone," Jokowi said.
The announcement by the KPU was not attended by Prabowo or Sandiaga. Prabowo only sent Habiburohman, the legal team for Prabowo-Sandi. The public saw Prabowo\'s absence as a sign that reconciliation was still difficult. To be present or not present at the KPU’s announcement was Prabowo\'s political right. However, the declaration of Jokowi-Amin as elected president-vice president remains valid.
The public certainly hopes that as in 2014, Prabowo will be present at the presidential inauguration at the House of Representatives General Session on Oct. 20 and congratulate the elected president. A victory speech and a concession speech are traditions in a mature democracy.
Although all the arguments from Prabowo\'s legal team were rejected by the Constitutional Court, including the one regarding Ma\'ruf Amin\'s position, we encouraged Amin to quickly renounce his position as a Sharia Steering Council at two banks and also release his position as chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council after being elected vice-president. Quick steps must be taken so that no more controversy arises. We underline Jokowi\'s statement, which said, "We are open to anyone."
However, the invitation should not be interpreted as a plot to create a “fat” reconciliation Cabinet with a high number of young ministers whose positions are made only to accommodate political power. Democracy still needs balancing power – power outside the government. Indonesian unity must be prioritized, but that does not mean that the law is thrown away for the sake of reconciliation.
An expert Cabinet, a combination of professionals and political parties, must be prepared to anticipate inevitable global challenges.
There is still a lot of work to be done, from corruption, social inequality to ideological problems. Jokowi-Amin\'s tough challenge is managing a group that feels that they have contributed to their victory. Both of them need to first set priorities.