Indonesian presidential candidate Anies Baswedan (left) and vice presidential candidate Muhaimin Iskandar during a major campaign at Jakarta Stadium (Anatolia)

Jakarta -

The recent months in Indonesia have witnessed large-scale election campaigns for presidential candidates. Although the candidates do not differ in the apparent style of their rounds between the provinces, what is striking is the emergence of the phenomenon of dialogue and discussion between the candidate and voters, instead of the candidate rising to a high platform, speaking to the audience, and then leaving. The arena without any conversation.

This method appeared with the Change Alliance candidate, Anis Baswedan, through a talk show, “Challenge Anis” or “Surround Him with Questions,” attended by thousands and moving between the governorates, in which Anis sits on a platform in the middle of the attendees and the attendees begin asking him questions and discussing him in a way that carries the meaning of challenge.

Perhaps what prompted the Baswedan campaign to put forward this idea are factors, including his academic personality, accustomed to dialogue and listening to critics, with his academic experience as a university professor, and even as president of Paramadinah University, leading up to ruling the capital, Jakarta, for a period of 5 years ending in 2022.

The other factor is the presence of a large segment of young people who are looking forward to discussion, dialogue, exchanging opinions, and presenting problems to the candidate, in light of the heated dialogues taking place in Indonesia between those who want change versus those who support the continuity of the rule of current President Joko Widodo, by transferring power to his Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, and his son, Raka Buming Raka. , the “Progress Indonesia” coalition’s candidates for the presidency and vice president, and this is consistent with the narrative of the Change Alliance that seeks political change, not continuity.

An expanded discussion through talk shows witnessed by young people in many regions during the Indonesian elections (Reuters)

22 dialogue episodes

The “Challenge Anis” dialogue was organized 22 times, the last of which was in Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia. The dialogues carry the slogan “Let’s Change Together,” and are presented and organized by young people from those cities. In each episode, the presenters are different from the previous ones, and the participants carry politically critical or sarcastic signs. From the current situation, Anis is keen to read it.

Many issues were raised, such as freedom and democracy, the neutrality of authority in elections, health and children’s issues, the problems of foreign investment in not resolving the unemployment problem, the suffering of retirees, the reform of government companies, the high cost of studying medicine and the lack of doctors in many regions.

Young people discussed with Anis the mechanisms of decision-making, and farmers, taxi drivers, fishermen, students, doctors, workers, and journalists sat with him and asked him about his thoughts on freedom of the press and media, financial and administrative corruption in the education sector, rural development budgets, and more.

A research study showed that 77.7% of the younger generation in West Java province believe that they need political education (Anatolia)

The political need of youth

Evi Sinta Dewi, professor of political discourse at Pajajarn University in the Indonesian city of Bandung, believes that “political transformations - especially those related to political morality and the decline of democracy - have generated a critical youth group that wants change,” noting that the “Challenge Anis” programs are attractive, because they are “a model of a dialogue campaign.” He made social problems a political issue, and answered the questions of the critical young voter who seeks to change the conditions of his country.”

According to research conducted by Dewey, 77.7% of the younger generation, who were born between 1997 and 2012, in the most populous province of West Java among Indonesia’s provinces, believe that they need political education, and 98.8% of them believe that political culture is important to them.

The same speaker stressed the importance of such dialogue programs "because they build a dialogue tradition among young people, and through this dialogue public opinion is formed, which can collectively push that trend."

She added, "It is in the spirit of democracy that there is an exchange of opinions, and this can only be achieved through dialogue, but it must build collective awareness, and not be closed within the circles of certain groups or categories, as more than 270 million people have not all reached awareness of the necessity of... That democracy has a discourse through which it struggles, and that public debate generates public opinion.”

The "Challenge Anis" program conducted more than 20 open dialogue rounds with young people (Anatolia)

"Hold Anis accountable"

It was noteworthy that the participants in the last episode of this talk show in the city of Surabaya, on Friday night, in the presence of more than 20 thousand people, some of them asked Anies Baswedan, if he wins the elections next Wednesday, to organize another talk show called “Hold Anies Accountable” to follow up. The ideas and programs promised to voters.

Regarding this, Mulisa Donna, a political affairs researcher at the Indonesian Research and Innovation Authority, told Al Jazeera Net, “The weakness of this dialogue propaganda campaign is that the public listens to electoral ideas and promises, but there is no pledge or commitment between the candidate and the public,” and she added, “There must be There is a social contract in these electoral forums when the candidate meets with voters, and pledges to adhere to this social contract, because if there is an agreement, there must be consequences for that.”

Donna said, "It is necessary to raise the level of popular participation after voting," referring to the demonstrations of students and workers protesting against politicians' failure to adhere to their promises after assuming power. She said, "The government seeks to achieve a level of popular participation only, by looking at the voter participation rate." But what is most important is the level of community effectiveness in monitoring the political promises of candidates, and for the community to be involved in policy making.”

Some participants demanded that talk shows be transformed into accounting programs if the candidate wins (Anatolia)

"Face the professor."

In the final days of the election campaign, Mohamed Mahfouz, the candidate for vice president with Ganjar Baranwo, from the Struggle for Democracy Party, embraced the idea of ​​talk shows and launched a similar program called “Face the Professor,” benefiting from his academic and judicial experience, but he is less present.

Mahfouz is a 66-year-old university professor. He was also President of the Constitutional Court, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, and Minister of Defense. The last position he held, days before his resignation to devote himself to the elections, was Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.

Public policy expert Nasr al-Zaman believes that “such talk shows make the criteria for evaluating candidates higher in the eyes of voters,” considering this a shift in the style of election campaigns. He said, “This method makes it a popular demand, for future candidates to see that it is their duty to sit.” To the table of dialogue and discussion with voters, in sessions such as those initiated by Anis Baswedan, then imitated by Muhammad Mahfouz.

Source: Al Jazeera