Residents take selfies and walk around the front yard of Jakarta City Hall, which was filled by flower boards, on Thursday. City Hall so far has received more than 6,500 flower arrangements.
Our politics today have given way to a high level of antagonism.
Elections, be they nationwide or regional, are being defined as life-or-death situations, as proven by the energy, fanaticism and anger poured out throughout the political process. Peace commitments signed by candidates in front of election organizers can rarely guarantee actual peace. Up to the end of the election season, political sentiments are still strong everywhere within the social structure.
Nature of politics
There is a blessing in all of this. Public shiftlessness as a result of political trauma during the New Order era is slowly dissipating. Enthusiasm for political participation soars, regardless of how such participation is defined and whether it is constructive or destructive.
Apathy that has clouded election rituals in the last few years has been replaced by a burning spirit. Our society is psychologically conducting a self-repositioning and self-healing from past traumas.
Unfortunately, behind this precious blessing, there is a hidden curse: the high level of public political participation is not in accordance with its quality. The activities of exchanging political messages are not all counterbalanced with a spirit to keep tolerance alive. As a result, the public space is divided into two poles, between showers of praise for idolized candidates and gales of profane curses for their opponents.
It is understandable, then, that we are now in a political situation that severely lacks appreciation and a willingness to give positive credit where it is due. Emotional bonds established through political moments prove the strength of these bonds, which are sometimes stronger than common sense.
An aura of enmity is engendered not only because politics demands unilateral allegiance, but also because it is where the nature of politics effervesces: it normalizes social collisions as a means to achieve goals. This highly Machiavellian logic is the root of the lack of appreciation, which deliberately and even authorized. The cause is clear, harmony is not the natural mode of power.
Conflict is seen as the way to go as, in conflict, desired goals can be attained and any obstruction can be eliminated. If such is the formulation, is positivity impossible in politics? Should appreciative behavior take a step back to make way for uni dimensional goals that burn up social cohesion?
Exemplars
The difficulty in bringing forth true harmony is rooted in the absence of any explanation that all Indonesians can agree on regarding the ideas that the nation is fighting for through its politics. It is impossible to formulate such an agreement when we have no ideological and elite exemplars who can transcend the binary logic of a zero-sum game.
Our long journey throughout the reform era has shown how we are willing to fight to our deaths for our beliefs and arguments for the sake of pragmatic political victories. Who or what our exemplars are have never been clear. They must have the capacity to cut down all undermining prejudices, to gain sympathy from all sides and infect everyone with humility. We need exemplars right now as the chaotic condition has cost everyone their moral and ideological grip on life.
Furthermore, politics must be cleansed from the view that it can be used in the everyday practice of managing power. It is far more genuine and sacred than that, as it determines our collective life and is the reason why political systems are built.
Therefore, restraining political conflict while developing political support and appreciation must be seen as a sacred phase of political maturity. It also contains dignity, both for groups and individuals, which must be taken care of. Accepting the reality that life together is more precious than anything else means leaving behind the heavy cloak of political egoism.
Surely such behavior must be appreciated as a way to maintain dignity. Such behavior also signifies an elegant academic response for political elites against political societies.
RENDY PAHRUN WADIPALAPA
Lecturer at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Airlangga University, Surabaya
