Jealousy, Longing for Quality Campaigns

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Youngsters, who are members of the Indonesian Islamic Youth Movement, hold a declaration action for the peaceful regional election in 2018 and the peaceful general election in 2019 at the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle, Jakarta, (25/3/2018). The action encouraged the public to support the peaceful regional election and the general election by rejecting all forms of black campaigns, hate speech, and hoaxes.

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Issues of jealousy and longing don’t just emerge between lovebirds, as they could also penetrate the 2019 presidential race. The love arrow can slide through the pairs of Joko Widodo- Ma\'ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno. The source of jealousy is that the Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno camp has not been able to do real work that can be used as propaganda to win the hearts of the people. It should be acknowledged that this pair has the right to be jealous, but should not become resentful, envious or unforgiving, and so on. Blind jealousy can stimulate an ugly attitude and hooliganism that degrades credibility.

If the strong influence of jealousy cannot be controlled, it is feared that the 2019 presidential election will only be a replication of the 2014 presidential election. Political competition becomes just an arena of brutal fighting for power.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the survey results of the Indonesian Survey Circle in October 2018 on "Hoaxes and Electoral Effects of Ratna Sarumpaet Case". The conclusion is quite convincing in that the majority of the public (75 percent) are worried about baseless news. The public hopes that social media is cleared of fake news. The study shows people are longing for quality campaigns.

The Joko Widodo-Ma\'ruf Amin camp could benefit because the four years of Joko Widodo\'s administration has led to real work. This achievement is powerful ammunition to win the hearts of the people. If the opposing camp uses propaganda, respond with hard work. However, it must be noted that the response narrative package must be able to awaken and stimulate people\'s emotions. Various studies on voting behavior prove that public sentiment are frequently the determinant factors in political races.

Based on these assumptions, it is expected that the Joko Widodo-KH Ma\'ruf Amin pair will be more aggressive, smart and constructive in its campaign. However, it is not simple considering the current political atmosphere is not free of the issues that surrounded the 2014 presidential election and 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.  The political climate is also dimmer because the aura of populism and post-truth politics still roams in the global political landscape. Campaign traps that will drain the public\'s emotions are still open and invisible.

Therefore, the leaders of the two camps should be more assertive in cracking down on supporters who spread baseless news.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO (KUM)

J. Kristiadi

The aggregate number of votes has powerful power to influence public policy. Hirschman said, "Voice is political action par excellence", giving the vote is the most important form of political action (Albert O Hirschman; Exit, Voice and Loyalty; 1970). To make the votes meaningful, political education is needed so that citizens have civic competence and deliberation competency to create public conversation(Erik Anderson, 2012). We recommend that in the remaining campaign time, both sides, besides struggling to win, must strive as hard as possible to develop deliberation or dialogue that has the spirit of giving and receiving, not a priori adhering to their own opinions and rejecting the opinions of the conversational partners.

J. Kristiadi, Senior Researcher, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)