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The 36.3 percent of voters who did not
exercise their right in the West Java gubernatorial election in February
indicates that democracy has failed. The voting rate in the province has
decreased from the 32.7 percent of the electorate who cast their ballots
in 2008 and may worsen in the future. A similar phenomenon was evident in
the recent gubernatorial election in North Sumatra.
The number of golput voters, or those who choose not to exercise the
franchise, suggests that people are politically apathetic or simply
ignorant, as no competing political parties has attracted them. As
Pikiran Rakyat daily recently reported, the number of people who did not
vote in West Java outnumbered those who cast ballots to reelect Governor
Ahmad Heryawan.
When political parties fail to mobilize people, the parties have failed
to carry out political education, which is one of their responsibilities.
Despite their victories at the ballot box, the parties have not secured
social and psychological support from the majority of the people.
Analysts have warned the political parties of potential recurrence of the
golput phenomenon during the elections in 2014, recommending that they
take necessary measures to restore their image.
Non-voting is considered an act of public punishment against failed
political parties. However, the presence of golput voters is not felt,
their voices are not heard and their departures are not missed. Despite
tremendous efforts from political parties to create images of
inclusiveness, voters have not been impressed at all.
It is all known that every political party has had a problem in
recruiting legislative candidates. Coming from nowhere and unknown by
people, many candidates jump into the political bandwagon. Often they do
not have sufficient knowledge to get involved in the legislative process.
A number of bad politicians have been sent to the House of
Representatives by default by good and educated people who did not vote.
In this country, lawmakers often become an easy target of harsh and
cynical critics, who have said that the lawmakers were “NATO” (no action,
talk only) or 3D (datang, duduk, duit, which might be roughly translated
as I came, I sat, I took money). Worse, many of them fail to show up for
House plenary sessions. Absenteeism has led to a lack of responsibility
and ineptitude leadership.
Some political parties have already lost captive votes from otherwise
loyalist voters. In a show of protest, voters have supported alternative
candidates when some party elites were implicated in corruption, money
politics or other crimes.
What is urgent now is a concerted effort by all political parties to win
the hearts of the people. Non-voting is indicative of indifference or
apathy towards democracy. Democracy begins with voluntary voting. Failure
to vote is also indicative of political alienation. It is a
self-withdrawal from politics, due to distrust of the ruling government
and the political parties. In the long run, this will be realized in
faded allegiances to the country by refusing to participate in public
decision making.
Hence, a paradigm change is imperative. The political parties should
search for candidates who can champion the people, not the populist
leaders looking for a political party to serve as the bandwagon for their
own interests.
The essence of general elections is to improve leadership for the whole
nation. Competition among parties is meant to look for the best candidates.
All parties are institutions that should educate people how to exercise
democracy. The question is how to empower political parties to develop
leadership.
The fact that political parties recruit artists and celebrities as
candidates for public posts portrays ineptitude at leadership
regeneration. No wonder Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “In politics
stupidity is not a handicap.”
Political education is a formative process, forming individuals who are
conscious of their political rights. Political education consists in
deliberate efforts to educate people so that they participate politically
in a responsible, ethical, and moral manner.
Civic education in schools introduces students not only to knowledge
about the Constitution, laws, the government and political systems, but
also inculcates positive attitudes and tolerance toward the values
embedded in political parties. Through student organizations, students
put into practice knowledge, skills and attitudes in student governance.
In other words, school is a place where political literacy develops
naturally.
Law No. 12/2012 on higher education explicitly states that classes in
Pancasila, civics and citizenship—along with religion and the Indonesian
language — are mandatory undergraduate courses. They should provide
students with awareness of changing civic culture, including an
understanding of the potential conflict among political parties.
The inclusion of citizenship as a mandatory college subject is expected
to prepare students to be future legislators, political party members and
bureaucrats with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to form and
maintain political parties as a pillar of democracy.
While schools have fulfilled their function to develop political
literacy, political parties, unfortunately, have failed to provide their
members with an awareness of the practice of politics in a responsible,
ethical and moral manner. Schools have provided students with a basic
political literacy, political parties have failed to follow through.
Formal education should provide students with knowledge, attitude and
skills to cope with politics, which is — as Groucho Marx put it — “the
art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it
incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies”. ●
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