The current presidential race actually much interesting compared to the 2004 election. The General Election Commission (KPU) is more creative by organizing 5 rounds of presidential/vice presidential televised debates, the event that gives the candidates chance to act their best performances in front of public. Like the Indonesian Idol – a singing contest among the teenagers across the country whom the winner is picked by the voters through sms (short message service), the presidential/vice presidential candidates polish their images for the best endeavor in order to be voted by the audiences.
Unfortunately, the attractive race nowadays has been tainted by several sentiments using religious symbols which supposedly out from practical politics.
Firstly, after all three candidates announced their readiness for the race, the deputy secretary general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Zulkieflimansyah said that popularity of JK-Wiranto duet has been increasing due to their wives wearing the jilbab (headscarf). The mass media then cover both Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto wives who always appear in public wearing a jilbab. Internal survey by PKS confirmed that such attire potentially lures the Muslims to vote for them.
Perhaps JK and Wiranto have no intention to use such strategy to gain popularity, because there is nothing wrong with wearing a jilbab for Muslims despite the jilbab indeed is visually very attractive for conventional Muslim women. However, it has been making biased when it’s used as a campaign theme suggested the candidates whose the wives wearing jilbab are definitely better than those who are not – referring to the SBY-Boediono and Megawati-Prabowo pairs.
Secondly, at a recent Golkar campaign in Medan, there was a rumors spread by unidentified source that Boediono’s wife is a Catholic. The garbage rumors were clear used by those who intended to tell public that it’s no way to have leader with the non Muslim background. I don’t know what the smear campaign based on, but Boediono’s wife is a truly Muslim. Boediono himself asked his supporters not to react anything on this matter.
Is there no other way to win the race respectfully than using religious symbols as a campaign strategy? Why such thing always re-occurring in every election? We should remember in 2004 the similar rumors also occurred to SBY when his wife accused as a Christian just because her name is Kristiani Herawati – the sound which tends to Christianity nuance in her first name.
Such campaign strategies definitely are a set back and contra-productive if applied in our multi-cultures society. Such strategies are not sellable anymore. And I am personally not sure it is effective to influence the voters to switch their preferred candidates, because people today are more mature and not so easy to be driven only by religious symbols. The political elites who still have a narrow mind should wake-up and open eyes widely that our people today are not stupid. They should stop politicizing religion because Indonesia is a pluralistic state.
In the first vice presidential debate that moderated by Komaruddin Hidayat on 23 June, the three VP candidates agreed to put religion out of politics, even on the higher position than politics considering it is a sacral entity for all human being. However, as Boediono remarked that words so often to be different with deeds, which candidates will the people put the trust on?
S.K. Zainuddin in the July edition of GLOBEAsia magazine wrote: “After all the campaign stops and televised debates, after political and economic analysts have dissected the platforms of the respective candidates, it all boils down to one factor. Trust.”
It is not without a strong reason if the key factor for all the candidates to win the race is merely a trust. And the trust itself born from honesty and sincerity, because it will be so naïve if the people lay their trust just on religious symbols. “The defining factor that will differentiate the winner from the losers will be how voters perceive the candidates not in terms of substance of their platforms but in the way they govern,” said Zainuddin.
Probably the debates for most of the people is just a show. It is enjoyable watching the excited, attractive, and argumentative debates, and how the candidates speaking articulately in describing the own view or debating the rivals view. Then the questions are: Does the candidate who steals the attention of the audience in the debates also succeed stealing the people trust? Does the candidate who gains plenty of claps from the audience also succeed gaining the people confidence to be the next five years leaders?
***
Serpong, 30 June 2009
Unfortunately, the attractive race nowadays has been tainted by several sentiments using religious symbols which supposedly out from practical politics.
Firstly, after all three candidates announced their readiness for the race, the deputy secretary general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Zulkieflimansyah said that popularity of JK-Wiranto duet has been increasing due to their wives wearing the jilbab (headscarf). The mass media then cover both Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto wives who always appear in public wearing a jilbab. Internal survey by PKS confirmed that such attire potentially lures the Muslims to vote for them.
Perhaps JK and Wiranto have no intention to use such strategy to gain popularity, because there is nothing wrong with wearing a jilbab for Muslims despite the jilbab indeed is visually very attractive for conventional Muslim women. However, it has been making biased when it’s used as a campaign theme suggested the candidates whose the wives wearing jilbab are definitely better than those who are not – referring to the SBY-Boediono and Megawati-Prabowo pairs.
Secondly, at a recent Golkar campaign in Medan, there was a rumors spread by unidentified source that Boediono’s wife is a Catholic. The garbage rumors were clear used by those who intended to tell public that it’s no way to have leader with the non Muslim background. I don’t know what the smear campaign based on, but Boediono’s wife is a truly Muslim. Boediono himself asked his supporters not to react anything on this matter.
Is there no other way to win the race respectfully than using religious symbols as a campaign strategy? Why such thing always re-occurring in every election? We should remember in 2004 the similar rumors also occurred to SBY when his wife accused as a Christian just because her name is Kristiani Herawati – the sound which tends to Christianity nuance in her first name.
Such campaign strategies definitely are a set back and contra-productive if applied in our multi-cultures society. Such strategies are not sellable anymore. And I am personally not sure it is effective to influence the voters to switch their preferred candidates, because people today are more mature and not so easy to be driven only by religious symbols. The political elites who still have a narrow mind should wake-up and open eyes widely that our people today are not stupid. They should stop politicizing religion because Indonesia is a pluralistic state.
In the first vice presidential debate that moderated by Komaruddin Hidayat on 23 June, the three VP candidates agreed to put religion out of politics, even on the higher position than politics considering it is a sacral entity for all human being. However, as Boediono remarked that words so often to be different with deeds, which candidates will the people put the trust on?
S.K. Zainuddin in the July edition of GLOBEAsia magazine wrote: “After all the campaign stops and televised debates, after political and economic analysts have dissected the platforms of the respective candidates, it all boils down to one factor. Trust.”
It is not without a strong reason if the key factor for all the candidates to win the race is merely a trust. And the trust itself born from honesty and sincerity, because it will be so naïve if the people lay their trust just on religious symbols. “The defining factor that will differentiate the winner from the losers will be how voters perceive the candidates not in terms of substance of their platforms but in the way they govern,” said Zainuddin.
Probably the debates for most of the people is just a show. It is enjoyable watching the excited, attractive, and argumentative debates, and how the candidates speaking articulately in describing the own view or debating the rivals view. Then the questions are: Does the candidate who steals the attention of the audience in the debates also succeed stealing the people trust? Does the candidate who gains plenty of claps from the audience also succeed gaining the people confidence to be the next five years leaders?
***
Serpong, 30 June 2009
Titus J.
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