"We need to be mindful of identity politics (risks) during the 2024 General Elections and Regional Elections. There is no single country successfully defeating identity politics to date," DKPP Commissioner J. Kristiadi stated here, Tuesday.
At the 2024 Elections Vulnerability Index dissemination webinar hosted by the Home Affairs Ministry, he pointed out that identity politics remained a credible threat that should be properly addressed by electoral organizers.
To reduce identity politics, electoral stakeholders, including organizers and candidates, should encourage idea-based competition through debate and other discourses to elevate common dignity, he remarked.
He noted that election candidates should ensure what they utter in electoral campaigns are only truths acknowledged by all participants.
"They must not be stubborn nor denigrate each other, as debates ought to contend ideas. Participants must also acknowledge that there are truths in every statement delivered," Kristiadi emphasized.
The DKPP commissioner also urged relevant stakeholders to improve the quality of elections in Indonesia by improving the capability of electoral candidates to sense issues relevant to society.
"Otherwise, democracy (in Indonesia) will be merely a meaningless procedure," he remarked.
Earlier, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin had expressed confidence that Indonesians would not be swayed by identity politics in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections.
"I believe we (are committed) for long to avoid identity politics and political differences as well as differences on (preferred) presidential candidates will not break this nation apart," he stated in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday (December 3).
The vice president urged residents to remain united and be tolerant of others supporting different presidential candidates and political parties. He affirmed that Indonesians should not become divided by political preferences, particularly as they are accustomed to differences, even among residents, who share a religious denomination.
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Translator: Boyke Ledy Watra, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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