Singaraja, Suaratabanan. id – Indonesia is one of the countries in the world that implements democracy in national and state life. As a multicultural country, this year Indonesian democracy is facing many challenges and problems. Starting from the Covid-19 pandemic to other aspects of life. The existence of democracy was at stake when the pandemic hit, including in the 2020 Regional Head Election (Pilkada).
The focus of public attention on the pandemic should not weaken the function of democracy, one of which is through public control over state policy. This was conveyed by an academic at Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha), Prof. Dr. I Wayan Lasmawan, on Thursday (1/10/2020).
Apart from this, the most crucial problems of Indonesian democracy, according to him, include the absence of civil society that is critical of power, poor political party cadre formation, the disappearance of the opposition, high election costs due to massive money politics in elections, as well as fake news (hoaxes). “Ahead of the 2020 regional elections, there is the potential for hoax news to emerge which is capitalized and organized to provoke the public and divide the nation. “Ordinary people accept the news as it is without any filtering,” he said.
Apart from that, primordial issues such as identity are expected to continue to emerge in this political contestation. Primordial issues, whether based on ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group (SARA), will continue to be played up by some political elites, to mobilize support and attract the attention of potential voters. “The threat of the use of identity politics continues to be a scourge that deserves to be watched and studied by authorized stakeholders, because identity politics will trigger societal polarization, especially before, during, and even after the implementation of the democratic party,” said this academic from Kintamani, Bangli.
All levels of society, including the campus community, need to be aware of the possibility of the emergence of socio-political problems. Educated people must play a role in restoring the authority and honor of politics and democracy which were tarnished by bandits and political adventurers. “Campus-educated people must come closer and restore the honor of Indonesian politics. “Campus-educated people must return to being the main producers of intelligent people in the Indonesian political arena,” he concluded.
