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Identity politics viewed as threat to 2024 polls
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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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.
Jokowi's 2019 reelection victory against longtime rival Prabowo Subianto, now the defense minister, was marred by political polarization as supporters of the opposing camps took to social media to fling derogatory or discriminative remarks at each other. The political divisiveness then spilled into the streets after the election, with Prabowo supporters clashing with police in Jakarta.
Less polarizing election
Political parties have also spoken up against using identity politics, which could further incite political divide in the society.
“Identity politics has damaged the nation and has been divisive for the [Muslim] population,” Golkar Party chair Airlangga Hartarto, who is also the coordinating economic minister, said earlier this month. "We have to continue building the spirit of tolerance and nationalism, no matter the political dynamics."
Airlangga said steering the country away from polarization due to identity politics was one of the driving factors behind the recently formed electoral alliance between Golkar, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP). The so-called United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) aimed to do this by pushing for at least three presidential tickets so voters would not become polarized.
Most of Indonesia’s direct presidential elections, first held in 2004, have had more than two candidates. The exceptions are the 2014 and 2019 elections, both of which saw Jokowi and Prabowo vying for the presidency.
A three-horse race could be taking shape, as the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) have started talks on forming an alliance. Other parties might rally around the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party as the axis of a third alliance.
While a PKB-PKS alliance still needs at least one more party to meet the presidential threshold to be eligible to nominate a candidate, the PKB is adamant that preventing popular polarization in 2024 necessitated a third alliance.
“If the PKS and the PKB sit down together, [we can stop] identity politics,” PKB deputy chairman Jazilul Fawaid said last week.
New mudslinging tactic?
Yet, experts remain unconvinced that the 2024 elections will be free of campaigns wielding religion to push their political interests.
This concern has been further compounded by an event in the capital city earlier this month, during which members of an unofficial Islamic organization dubbed “FPI Reborn” took to the streets to declare their support for Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.
The group’s name is a nod to the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which was disbanded by the government two years ago, and it remains unclear whether Anies was linked to the event. He did not attend the event, nor has he made any statements about it.
A new organization also called the FPI, short for Front Persatuan Islam (United Islamic Front), has denied any ties to FPI Reborn.
Anies, who is not affiliated with any political party, is among the politicians who have consistently ranked among the top three in recent electability polls. The other two are Defense Minister Prabowo, who is also the Gerindra chairman, and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo of the PDI-P.
Political analyst Firman Noor said that "odd" occurrences like the FPI Reborn rally would likely continue to happen until 2024. While anyone should be allowed to express their political aspirations openly, he said this could also be a new strategy to damage certain political figures and should be “stopped immediately”.
More action needed
Analyst Adi Prayitno said that while identity politics was not inherently dangerous, it became a problem when it was used as a tool to incite conflict among voters.
“If some people think they need a president that shares their faith, that’s fine, as long as they can keep an open mind. But the problem here is that this [kind of] religious sentiment is often used to blame or attack others.”
Instead of focusing on the number of presidential candidates running in 2024, Adi called on the government and politicians to provide more political education to avoid polarizing voters.
Researcher Arya Fernandes from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) urged authorities to increase surveillance of social media platforms. Identity politics could be spread by supporters through online hate, and may not necessarily come from political parties.
“I think identity politics is also compounded by the use of social media. While still ensuring freedom of speech, authorities need to do something about the millions of fake online accounts,” he added.
-- Yvette Tanamal contributed to the story
