Election observers have called on political party leaders to do more to prevent poll-related violence from breaking out, following an arson attack in South Sumatra on Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s gubernatorial ballot there.
Zulfian S. Rehalat, the executive director of the Jakarta Institute, a think tank, said at a discussion on Wednesday that party elites were aware of the potential for friction from grassroots campaigns escalation into violence, and thus had a responsibility to scale back the tensions.
“Of course these incidents can be anticipated by all sides, especially the party elites who have a vested interest in the matter,” he said.
His statement came in response to the torching of two electronics stores in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday afternoon by a mob of unknown people.
No one was injured in the incident, but the stores’ owners cited massive losses as a result of the blaze.
Police investigating the incident have not yet identified the perpetrators, but there are strong suspicions that their motive was linked to Thursday’s gubernatorial election, which the incumbent, Alex Noerdin, appears on track to win, according to exit polls.
Panhar Nakawi, a politician from the Crescent Star Party (PBB), said at Wednesday’s discussion that much of the election-related violence in the country could be attributed to the reluctance of candidates and their supporters to concede defeat.
“We have a culture that makes us unwilling to accept defeat,” he said, adding that this was a mind-set inherited from Suharto’s New Order regime that had not been addressed by the political reforms of the past 15 years.
“The problem is that political parties aren’t doing enough to educate their supporters, so there’s still this strong rejection to losing,” he said.
Bima Arya, a senior politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN), agreed that parties had failed to inculcate a culture of clean politics into their ranks, but argued that it was not entirely their fault.
“First, they lack the funds to carry out extensive political education,” he said.
“Second, their other resources to do so are limited, so they can’t educate their supporters on clean politics.”
He said that another factor was the lack of credible leadership figures to set a good example for supporters.
Bima cited Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo as one of the very few leaders seen in a positive light by much of the public.
“The reason he stands out is because in Indonesia right now we have a leadership crisis. We need new role models. The public needs someone to look up to so that the general antipathy toward politics and political parties can be tackled,” Bima said.
He added that a major factor in poll-related violence was the prevalence of negative campaigning during regional elections, which he said served to create hostilities and stoke tensions.
“What we should be seeing instead are positive campaigns that serve to educate the public and to get the candidates’ programs across,” he said.
“Those who carry out negative campaigns only do so because they don’t have any positive points to put forward. So they go on a war footing.”
Bima said that another factor was the role of the country’s news media, which he argued was meant to educate the public on the candidates’ programs and platforms but in reality often dwelt on negative aspects of campaigning that were considered more newsworthy.
Indra, a politician from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said election-related conflicts tended to flare up in regions rich in natural resources but with low levels of education among the public.
He attributed this to political jockeying over lucrative mineral rights and manipulation of politically ignorant voters, noting that the opposite trend could be seen in regions with higher levels of education.
by: Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy
source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/political-parties-must-prevent-violence-observers/
