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More than peaceful elections
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Checking it twice: A committee member at a polling station (TPS) in Denpasar, Bali, checks a ballot for the city's mayoral election before handing it to a voter during a revote in a 2015 file photo. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
W
ith the prospects of economic recovery for next year looking grim, and even further downturn also possible, security will be a major cause for concern. In such a difficult period, particularly for the unfortunate, Indonesia will hold its second simultaneous elections in seven provinces, 18 municipalities and 76 regencies.
It is therefore unsurprising that the National Police have taken precautionary measures to keep order in the regions and the nation at large ahead of, during and after the balloting scheduled for Feb. 15, 2017. The political climate will naturally start heating up when the four-month-long campaign season kicks off on Oct. 26.
It also comes as no surprise that contenders for the elections have pleaded for a peaceful race from the beginning. The three candidate pairs contesting the Jakarta gubernatorial election, for example, marked the start of their rivalry with a “wefie” to send a message of peace to their supporters.
The National Police have learned a lot from previous elections, especially the 2014 presidential election, about how to minimize potential security threats. The nerve-wracking race that divided the nation in 2014 ended peacefully, although it took the warring elite one year to finally bury their hatches.
As in the past, the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has identified a number of regions vulnerable to conflict in the upcoming local elections, based on the capacity of poll organizers, the level of competition and public participation there.
Given their presence in every corner of the country, the police should be aware of the potential for conflict in those regions and in other areas, but it is naive to expect the police to work all alone in containing threats to peace in the regions. Even the entire National Police force will not be adequate to uphold peace and order in the 101 administrative regions, considering the officer-to-population ratio, which remains low.
God forbid there should be any outburst of violence in the regions during any stages of the electoral process, as the pain it inflicts will be difficult to heal or worse will instigate a cycle of revenge. Prevention is therefore imperative.
Peaceful elections are in everybody’s interest, in particular the candidates and their supporting political parties. As key players in the elections the two should take the lead in promoting peace or at the very least refrain from spreading hatred toward their rivals.
The presidential election two years ago saw hatemongers at the forefront of smear campaigns circulating libelous material, with poll organizers unable to red card them due to the absence of proof of links with any competing ticket.
This time around, however, both candidates and political parties cannot evade their responsibility to end this history of smear campaigns. They may make pledges for a kampanye santun (civilized electoral campaign), but their silence about any libelous attack on their rivals would signal their condoning of such dirty tricks.
Indonesia’s maturity in practicing democracy will be put to another test next February. Any smear campaigns will cancel out the common pledge for peaceful elections and hence endanger democracy.
