Fixed Price for Conscience

KUM

J Kristiadi

The officers of the Polling Stations Working Committee (KPPS), who were sick and died, were a heartbreaking tragedy because it happened in an event called a democratic party that was supposed to be full of excitement. They are not just officers, but guards of the voice of the people\'s conscience.

Their understanding may not yet arrive at the abstract level that voting is a manifestation of granting the mandate of popular sovereignty to the candidates of state leaders. However, because they are part of the grassroots community, their hearts and minds were able to witness the expressions and vibrations of the voters\' hopes for elections as a way to change their destiny or improve their welfare. This perception provided a powerful motivation so that they worked tirelessly.

Their fatigue did not deal only with the amount of work that exceeded the maximum power threshold; suffering still had to be added to the psychological burden in the form of slander, insults, accusations, curses, and the like due to the garbage of political contestation which is laden with triumphant lust beyond the measure. The contestation that should prioritize sportsmanship makes the election merely a battle of power. Political opponents who are actually "friends" to compete become enemies that must be eliminated. The election without any pattern which tended to be destroying from upstream to downstream produced a political situation that spread hostility, making officers in the field an easy target by political adventurers who justified any means.

Their deaths are manifestations of the persistence of the spirit of the struggle to secure the voice of the people from various threats, especially efforts to thwart and delegitimize the elections and the elelction organizers. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, the level of public trust in election organizers reached 70-90 percent so that the election was very legitimate. The sacrifice of the officers and relatives being left behind should not be wasted. Their dedication must burn the spirit of the politicians in perfecting the rules of the elections, as well as the whole regulatory rules relating to the order of government power.

One of the main challenges which leads to the messy electoral system is the outbreak of lies that have spread into a global phenomenon. This phenomenon is not easily conquered since the phenomenon has a long historical root. One of the references to understanding and getting a perspective to tame the destructive power of hoax is the diagnosis Thomas Carothers, A Good Democracy is Hard to Find (Foreign Affairs, May/June, 2019).

The explanation begins by asking why the progress of democracy runs in a very long and slow way, but is very vulnerable so that it can easily fall into pieces. A more operational question: why does a democratic recession occur? How bad is the recession and which direction will democracy lead to?

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Staffers of the Yogyakarta General Elections Commission (KPU) confer on Wednesday (5/8/2019) during an open plenary meeting on the vote recapitulation for the 2019 general election at the Jogja Expo Center in Bantul, Yogyakarta. The province will continue with its recapitulation as the national-level recapitulation commences in Jakarta.

The historical assessment of the development of democracy in Western Europe since the early 18th century until the mid-20th century concluded that the resilience of democracy in a region was caused by several factors. First, America\'s role in constructing economic order, military power, increasing prosperity and peace in Europe. Second, the success of European integration. Third, the success of constructing a social democratic system that overcomes the economic crisis, inequality, and increasingly narrow social divisions. Even though it significantly helps to understand democracy today, a historical perspective has not been able to explain in a clear way the direction of democracy in the future.

Another offer is the study of Sophia Rosenfeld in Democracy and Truth: A Short History. She diagnosed American democracy in a historical perspective and discussed the relationship between democracy and lies. Her findings were that modern democracy was formed through the interaction between democratic practices and lies for 200 years. The pattern is that truth in democracy is the opponent of lies and errors in misguided dogma and misinformation.

However, democracy is a battlefield of subjective interests so lies and fraud are used as political legitimacy. Truth is not counted as noble values, but lies can justify political consensus (Hannah Arendt, Lying in Politics, 1971).

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

Yun Lukas, 53, holds up a framed photograph of her husband, Sonny Langkay, 61, who died of exhaustion while working for the polling station working committee (KPPS) at polling station (TPS) 8 in Kleak of Malalayang, Manado, North Sulawesi. Sonny suffered exhaustion from his KPPS duties for the 2019 elections on April 17, which was compounded by contributing to local preparations for Good Friday (5/19) and Easter Sunday.

As a result, the truth is very vulnerable in the practice of democracy. The problem becomes increasingly complicated because of the interwoven eternal truth (dogma), the truth of logic, and empirical truths. Lies are a threat that kills democracy if the people are provoked and bombarded with lies through political rhetoric and demagogy. The quote,”... hence the particular dangers associated with demagogous’ frequent false claim of illegitimacy or cheating when the vote count goes against them” (page 165).

Elections as a manifestation of democracy are never free from lies and fraud. Moreover, if political competition becomes a win-lose battle with identity politics, lies are positively correlated with group loyalty. So, the arrangement of regulation on elections must be based on noble political intentions that are strong from the politicians to release momentary political interests and groups.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

The Civil Society Alliance for Humanity hold up posters that read “Thank you, KPU” during a movement to advocate support for the General Elections Commission (KPU) on April 22, 2019 at the KPU’s Jakarta headquarters. In addition to expressing appreciation for the KPU during the 2019 elections, which has entered the vote recapitulation stage, the movement also called on the public to avoid conflict and end the tensions that emerged during the election.

Determination is urgently needed since the political parties\' elites actually understand the chaotic laws and regulations regarding elections. Public participation is absolutely necessary to enrich constructive debates, supervise and provide pressure to prevent the compilation of regulations from becoming a transaction market for power interests.

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