Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, second from left, waves to supporters during a parade in celebration of the Idul Adha holiday on October 14. His use of social media to appeal to young voters has sparked imitation across Indonesia’s political landscape. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)
With elections looming, dozens of young Indonesians sprawled out on a driveway roar with laughter as a comedian pokes fun at the country’s politicians, many of whom hark back to the days of dictatorship.
Indonesians between 17 and 31 will represent 30 percent of the vote in parliamentary and presidential elections that begin six months from now, and they are demanding fresh faces with new ideas.
“We need a leader who will get things done, but I don’t want to see another president with a military background,” 30-year-old writer Nelvia Effendi told AFP at the event, a discussion on the role of social media in the elections.
Indonesia has long been ruled by military leaders — the current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is a former general.
And aging ex-military commanders accused of bloody human rights violations are among current presidential candidates.
“We are looking for someone different. These politicians with military backgrounds, they offer nothing new. Their programs are abstract with nothing concrete,” Nelvia said.
The discussion was held by AyoVote (Let’s Vote), an organisation started by young Indonesians concerned that their peers did not have the tools to make an educated vote.
They invite comedians and bands and deploy young celebrities as their ambassadors, and communicate through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
While young Indonesians know they want something different, many are “clueless” about the political process, said 28-year-old AyoVote co-founder Pingkan Irwin.
“A lot can’t even name their local member of parliament,” she said.
While this might also be the case in other countries, it marks a sharp turn from 15 years ago in Indonesia when students spearheaded the downfall of the Suharto dictatorship after more than three decades of iron-fisted rule.
“But now we’re safe and the economy is booming. So I guess we got complacent,” said Pingkan.
Many Indonesian youths say they are simply jaded by the lack of progress since the downfall, with representatives regularly photographed asleep during parliamentary sessions.
They are fed up too of the rampant corruption that oozes from every level of government, with even the president’s party rocked by several corruption scandals.
For the youth, by the youth
Whether or not the youth turn out to vote in large numbers, parties are taking the gamble and fielding more young candidates.
Faisal Yusuf, 35, is running for a seat with the marginal NasDems Party, selling himself as a green, clean, man of the people.
On a recent visit to the rundown Melayu village in his East Jakarta electorate, Faisal knelt on the ground among scores of women and stuck his hand in a gooey pile of mulch to teach them how to turn kitchen waste into compost.
He wants to differentiate himself from old-style campaigning, where candidates go from village to village buying the poor’s vote with cash and rice handouts.
“I’m so sick of seeing candidates just throw money at people and then leave them with nothing,” Faisal said, with hundreds of fading candidate stickers from past visits covering the walls around him. “I want to do things differently and offer something that will actually help these people. That’s how you win their hearts.”
Like many young leaders, he is emulating the wildly popular Joko Widodo, who won the Jakarta governorship a year ago for his transparency and style of leadership.
Young Indonesians in particular are drawn to Joko, 52, who has no ties to the military or authoritarian past and is known for his love of heavy metal music.
Millions are pushing for Widodo’s party leader — 66-year-old Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president and daughter of the nation’s first president — to step down and let him run for president, hopeful for a real change.
Older candidates eyeing the presidency are scrambling for a slice of the affection Joko has won, with many turning to social media.
The unpopular presidential hopeful Aburizal Bakrie, 66, tried to shed his image as a ruthless business tycoon by posting a photo of himself donning a feathered hat with indigenous Indonesians on his Twitter account.
Prabowo Subianto, a 62-year-old presidential candidate, has garnered more than three million “likes” on his Facebook page, calling social media a “revolution” and an election “game-changer.”
But for Subianto, social media is a double-edged sword that has also exposed his bloody past as commander of an elite military unit accused of kidnapping and killing students during the riots that toppled the dictatorship.
“A lot of people on Twitter are already saying, ‘don’t forget what Prabowo did.’ I’m sure many young voters would not have even known about his past before reading it on social media,” said Arief Rakhmadani, strategy director of digital agency XM Gravity. “So social media will be important in these elections from an education point of view, and young people could act as a watchdog.”
Source/fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/young-indonesians-look-past-old-faces-ahead-of-polls/
