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Election stakeholders take firm stance against identity politics in 2024
The police and politicians have already started discussing and taking action on how to avoid polarizing voters, almost two years before the 2024 presidential election.
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A man casts his vote during the simultaneous legislative and presidential election on April 17, 2019 at a polling station in Banjar Blungbang of Penarungan village in Badung, Bali. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
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s the country’s political machine revs up for the 2024 presidential, legislative and regional elections, the police, politicians and experts have weighed in on the dangers of identity politics while expressing their hope that the democratic celebration would be free of campaign strategies that aimed to sow division.
The Indonesian concept of identity politics is synonymous with using religion to mobilize voter support for political parties and their candidates. It has played a prominent role in polarizing and dividing the voting public in past elections to result in long-lasting tensions.
The National Police stated on Tuesday that the police and other election stakeholders were forming a special task force to combat provocation and hate speech in the lead-up to the presidential and legislative polls slated for February 2024.
“[The task force] is tasked with educating [people] on [electoral] literacy, as well as maintaining ethics, tolerance and religious moderation, as well as [national] unity,” said National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo.
The police was collaborating with the Communication and Information Ministry and social media activists to host public discussions on the elections, particularly electoral campaigns. He did not provide any details on when the program would start.
The initiative comes after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called on election organizers to provide nationwide voter education to avoid repeating the polarization that colored the 2019 presidential race.
“We have had unsavory experiences with political issues around SARA [tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups] in previous elections. We hope this will not happen again in 2024,” Jokowi told a Cabinet meeting in April.
