Increasing Tension Among Jakarta's Election, Is it Triger a Mass Brawl?

The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has said increasing tension among the Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pairs and their supporters could have an impact on voting day, which is scheduled for Feb. 15. Bawaslu's monitoring division coordinator Daniel Zuchron said increasing political tension in Jakarta could be seen in news reports in mass media and conversations on social media.
 
"In the city, there is no problem with the integrity of the election organizers or the election procedures. However, political tension here is stronger than in other regions. This may affect what will happen at polling stations on Election Day," he said at the Bawaslu office in Central Jakarta lately.
 
The Election Vulnerability Index in Jakarta stood at 2.297, higher than Bangka Belitung (2.293) and Gorontalo (2.015), Bawaslu revealed Jakarta was still less vulnerable than West Sulawesi (2.367), Banten (3.147), Aceh (3.327) and West Papua (3.381). The vulnerability rank is calculated by comparing the total number of polling stations prone to conflict in each province with the total number of polling stations in that area.

The vulnerability index, which has a scale of 0 to 5, was based on three main dimensions, namely election implementation, contestation and participation.  Five aspects also determined the index. They comprised voter data validity, complete logistics distribution, public official intervention in the election process, money politics and the fulfillment of election procedures.  

West Papua had 2,857 polling stations, 2,048 of which were prone to money politics. Money politics in West Papua may occur either by giving money to voters or bribing election organizers. This can happen because West Papua is a rural area and it is underdeveloped. Central Java, Papua and South East Sulawesi were also electoral areas prone to conflicts, the index found.

That political tension, which usually spread quickly on social media, might also kindle problems at polling stations on voting day. Bawaslu had suggested all election organizers and supervisors paid close attention to this matter. "We have asked them to coordinate with local administrations and security forces and to engage community leaders to safeguard the elections," he and further said  we have warned the authorities about these findings because they are important. "We have asked the central and regional administrations to pay attention to this data,".

Meanwhile, the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has vowed to intensify efforts to prevent vote buying, known locally as "money politics", in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election through coordination with the National Police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO). The upcoming election in sight, the agency has continued to raise awareness of the importance of fair competition among the candidates, since such foul play would be bothersome for law enforcers.

The sentra gakkum (law enforcement center), which was established to create synergy between election supervisors, the police and prosecutors, would impose sanctions, such as disqualification and criminal penalties, on all parties found guilty of vote buying. Bawaslu had finished drafting a joint regulation as a guidelines for the sentra gakkum, and the agency was now waiting for National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Attorney General H. M. Prasetyo to sign the draft.

Several trouble spot area at 2017 local election still fragile
    
Bawaslu's assessment among the Election Vulnerability Index shall be paid a huge attention from 2017 simultaneous local election because vulnerability potential has been fulfilled at several provinces and district. Bawaslu's vulnerability index is based on "a normative general election procedures", and if we are more to explain about a general election vulnerability, actually at 101 areas which 2017 simultaneous local election will be done has a seriously vulnerability index.
    
Until the end of January 2017, several problems of 2017 simultaneous local election could be found such as candidate's mass brawl has been happened in several provinces; a brawl between "an empty box" supporters and other candidate’s has been happened in Middle Maluccas district in Maluku and Pati district in Middle Java; disputes among data vote validity has been occured at several provinces; a mass brawl between an internal ex Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM) has been actualized at several district in Aceh etc.

A voter data validity shouldn't be happened if General Election Commission (KPU) and The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has been learnt about 2014 or 2009 general election process, because its problem had been occured on those political movement. If these problems has been running, we must wonder that 2017 simultaneous local election would be chaotic and its could be increasing "white group/Golput" in Indonesia.

A complete logistics distribution should be taken a seriously attention among local election stakeholders specially about logistics distribution which disturbed related to some of area of an Indonesia's terrain has been difficult to reach, so that a logistics distribution on those places should do first. If logistics distribution problems has been occuring on a coming days, its could be made a trouble on voting day and also its could be trigerred the rejections of local election results.

A public official intervention in the election process and the fulfillment of election procedures has been happening at several provinces. These indicators have been shown that the professionality of a government apparatus who done it must be questioned. Those could be broken a government intention to build "a neutral bureaucracy" at 2017 simultaneous local elections. Based on those facts, I think the government must be given un-professional government apparatus with firmly administration and law sanctions.

Last but not least, a money politics has allegedly been occured at several districts and provinces, its had been tainted an Indonesian intention to implementing "a 2017 local simultaneous  peacefully and having integrity". However, a money politics is reflected "a greedy political rules" because a money politics player wants to be winner through cheat way. A money politics has been proved that an Indonesian politic procedures to be mayor, governor and President is a luxury and an expensive process, so that if its has always been implemented, its could be trigerred a political corruption after election.

I hope and sure although the preparation of 2017 simultaneous local election is chaotic, a periodecally Indonesia's politic has been done peacefully, succeed and having high integrity to face a sparkling Indonesian future.  Hopefully.

*) The writer earned his master at the University of Indonesia (UI). Researcher at Center of Risk and a Strategic Intelligence Assessment, South Jakarta.