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The practice of dynastic politics and the phenomenon of candidates against empty boxes are feared to be a trend in the upcoming 2024 Pilkada contestation.

This concern is not without cause. The fraud that occurred and was questioned by candidate pairs Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD in the 2024 presidential election results dispute hearing (PHPU) alone, was rejected by the Constitutional Court.

In fact, they considered that there were allegations of fraudulent practices that occurred during the 2024 presidential election process. Including, also the politicization of social assistance and the deployment of the apparatus.

This condition is more complicated in the regional elections, because it is added to the discourse of presenting a single candidate in certain regions.

Executive Director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati, assesses that practices such as dynastic politics and empty boxes make democracy unhealthy.

“Because based on the practices that have occurred so far, it turns out that it is very unhealthy for the condition of our democracy,” she said in a discussion entitled ‘Rigging the 2024 Elections: From Dynasties, Single Candidates, and ASN Neutrality’, at the ICW Learning House, South Jakarta, Tuesday (12/8).

“Now what is happening is that the desire to perpetuate power through this dynastic politics is then carried out in various ways, yes. If it is associated, with wanting a single candidate, for example,” he continued.

In fact, he continued, the Pilkada contestation should be an arena for fighting ideas and fighting ideas between candidate pairs.

“So what is encouraged is those who are close to the elite, which then yes what sucks is that the competition is eliminated,” said Khoirunnisa.

“Democracy is healthy competition, equal competition. Fighting ideas, fighting ideas. But, when dynastic politics and this single candidate meet, yes, there is no competition,” she explained.

According to him, the existence of a single candidate who is faced with an empty box is increasingly perpetuated by political parties and used to win the candidate pair that is carried.

In fact, Khoirunnisa said, that the empty box is actually a form of voter protest against political parties that are unable to present quality options.

“Now in 2024, there is a trend that says it might be twice as much, maybe 50 regions [have empty boxes],” he explained.

“In fact, maybe in the province there are those who want to strive for an empty column, right, when a province with a large population, yes, there is only one candidate. It’s not very healthy for democracy today, yes,” he added.

Therefore, he hopes that the public can consolidate to ensure a good democratic process occurs in the upcoming 2024 elections.

“Yes, if we feel this is bad, yes, we have the opportunity to give punishment in the 2024 elections,” he said.

“And yes, of course the choice is difficult, yes, as voters maybe we don’t have many choices, but I think consolidating the public can be one way,” he concluded.

As for one of the alleged discourses of presenting an empty box, it appeared in the Jakarta Gubernatorial Election. So far, there is already the name Ridwan Kamil (RK) who has been carried by the Advanced Indonesia Coalition (KIM) to compete in Jakarta.

Currently, there are rumors that a number of political parties will be joined to KIM to become a large coalition called KIM Plus, by attracting parties outside the coalition.

Before RK was carried by KIM to compete in the Jakarta Gubernatorial Election, Anies Baswedan’s name had first received support from PKS. In fact, PKS has endorsed the Anies-Sohibul Iman package for the Jakarta Gubernatorial Election.

However, PKS is hampered by the number of seats to advance its own candidates. Despite being the winner in Jakarta in the 2024 Pileg, PKS only has 18 DPRD seats.

Meanwhile, to carry its own candidates in Jakarta, it needs a minimum of 22 seats out of a total of 106 seats in the Jakarta DPRD. That way, PKS still needs 4 more seats to ensure that the package it carries can sail in the Jakarta Pilgub.

Not only that, now PKS has openly said that the deadline for Anies to find a coalition for the Anies-Sohibul Iman duet has run out. Meanwhile, several DPW parties that have expressed support for Anies, such as PKB and NasDem, have also not become the official stance of the DPP.

 

This article was published on Kumparan.com with the title “Perludem: Dynastic Politics and Single Candidates in Pilkada Make Democracy Unhealthy”, https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/perludem-politik-dinasti-dan-calon-tunggal-di-pilkada-buat-demokrasi-tak-sehat-23JoVQluP9x/full