Exclusive, Political Money Is Hard To Erase, Jazilul Fawaid Affirms All People Must Have The Same Commitment

The practice of money politics or money politics is commonly found in Indonesia. Whereas this practice is clearly prohibited under Law No. 3 of 1999 concerning General Elections. But what is the power of this regulation like a paper tiger. According to Dr. H. Jazilul Fawaid, SQ, MA as Deputy chairman of the MPR RI, this issue must be a concern of all politicians and the public. In the long term this practice will not only make politicians miserable, but also the people as a whole. All parties must have the same commitment to eradicate money politics.

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Money politics has emerged, said Jazil because many politicians are "lazy". They want to win the battle in the election or legislative elections but do not want to try to win the hearts of the people. Finally, shortcuts are used, using money, basic necessities, goods and so on. The goal is clearly to buy the people's vote. According to Jazil, there is a term circulating about this, namely NPWP (piro wani piro number). It means what number and how much are you willing to pay if you want to be selected.

In the long term, continued the Deputy Chairperson of the National Awakening Party (PKB) DPP, when the level of public welfare has improved, the level of public education has increased, and political awareness is getting better, money politics will not sell. “So far, the practice of money politics has often occurred in the pockets of poverty. Areas whose level of welfare still needs to be improved. There thrives the practice of buying and selling votes. This should be a correction for all parties. In the future, when welfare, education and awareness increase, this practice will be abandoned," he said.

According to him, the practice of money politics has made political costs very, very high. When an official is elected through money politics, said Jazil, the priority is to return the capital that has been spent. Corruption practices then become the chosen shortcut. There have been many regional heads, legislative members who had to be taken away by the KPK because they were entangled in hand arrest operations (OTT).

Eradicating money politics, continued Jazilul Fawaid, who also holds the position of Deputy Chair of the PKB Election Winning Division, cannot be assigned to one group or to law enforcement alone. Everyone must participate in eradicating the practice of money politics if the quality of democracy is to be better. "This must be a correction for political parties, politicians and all Indonesian people," he told Edy Suherli, Savic Rabos and Rifai from VOI who visited him at the House of Representatives of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly, Kemang, South Jakarta recently. He also talked about PKB's preparations and strategies for the 2024 general election. This is the complete excerpt.

How is your party's preparation for the 2024 election?

Usually for political parties, the day-to-day work of political parties goes on normally. We have faced the simultaneous local elections yesterday and thank God it was a success, many of our cadres were elected and some failed. Another task is to prepare the recruitment of prospective leaders in the regions. For the center still have to wait for the presidential election. But the most important thing is that there is also the task of political education, in the midst of this pandemic, in my opinion, it is not easy for political parties to carry out their functions as institutions that have the task of political education.

During this pandemic the General Chairperson of the PKB Pak Muhaimin has issued an Order to all ranks of the party to help people affected by the pandemic. In addition, it also continues to work on expanding the PKB voter base. There are many who have been affected by COVID-19; farmers, fishermen, laborers, Koran teachers in Islamic boarding schools and madrasas, and so on who incidentally are PKB constituents. The government has slowly managed to control this COVID-19. But you have to stay alert and run the process. In 2022 we must rise.

If the election is set for 2024, then this year is very important, because usually the election campaign is 1 year and the maturation process is 1 year. The year 2022 is a maturation process. Alhamdulillah, from all the survey releases, PKB has definitely passed the 4 percent parliamentary threshold. This gives confidence to the cadres to recruit candidates for legislative members. Since mid-October 2021, PKB has announced to the public that our party will conduct early legislative elections at the provincial, district/city and central levels. To those who signed up I would like to say; rest assured that your voice will not be wasted. And surely PKB will pass in Senayan. The election schedule has not yet been completed, nor has it been completed simultaneously. The steps taken are early nominations from level II to the Central Level, and the recruitment of witnesses.

The target for the 2024 election?

We have two big targets and can overtake Gerindra and Golkar. From the results the difference is thin. In order to win the battle, PKB must expand its support base. Millennials are our target, PKB must enter here. This is what Garda Bangsa (National Awakening Party Youth Movement) is currently working on.

In parliament what is done is to keep the existing votes (maintain) and take new votes that are possible. Currently there are 58 votes, in the future we are targeting 100 seats in the DPR RI. To achieve that target, we have developed a strategy. Thank God we are supported culturally by NU because this party was born from Nahdlatul Ulama. But sometimes it is also contested by other parties.

We continue to make programs that the public can directly benefit from, such as distributing basic necessities to residents affected by the pandemic. We also oversee the laws that are needed by the community, one of which is the Law on Islamic Boarding Schools which was recently passed. We also support the Act on sexual violence, the Domestic Worker Law. So the law is really needed by the lower class. In addition, the members of the PKB legislature in the Provincial and Regency DPRD are also tasked with controlling the making of the government budget. In addition, the party has also restructured the party down to the branch level. When the 2024 elections are ratified, we will be ready with the infrastructure. Just prepare "gasoline" to move everything.

Politics in Indonesia costs a lot how does your party deal with it?

Our party wants to build a national political order that has good morals and always encourages to avoid high political costs. Because the nature of politics is the impact it has on the people. If there is a high political cost, for example in the election of regents/mayors and governors, the legislature will have an impact on the community as well. After the candidate was elected he forgot the mandate. To all Indonesian people, let's purify our politics to be dignified, not NPWP politics, number piro wani piro. That's called Money politics, or transactional politics. If this is practiced, the people who suffer first, apart from the politicians themselves, are the people. We always encourage public participation in honest and lawful politics.

What concrete steps did PKB take to minimize transactional politics?

So if that's the case, the transaction is legalized, you can give within a certain limit. All of this needs to be strictly regulated through the Election Law. It is also important to start an election law that does not burden the people. For example, regarding the election of the Governor, it is enough in the DPRD so that the costs are not high, considering the vast area that must be visited.

Second, how to make people prosperous and have a good economy, so that they can be independent in politics. But this is a long term program. When the education index goes up, money politics doesn't work. So far, money politics has been happening in the pockets of poverty.

Our party wants to be the political axis so that it can regulate state policies. So far, we have been involved in the governing coalition, but only as a part, not as a determinant. That's why we want to be decisive. In the 2024 election, you have to be a winner in order to achieve that target. This must be tried as hard as possible.

Political costs are a necessity, but money politics is not allowed. How to arrange it?

Actually every year there has been an evaluation, such as for the installation of advertisements regulated by Bawaslu. However, in practice the supervision is weak. From a regulatory perspective, there are improvements. Money politics happens because politicians are lazy, he is not a cadre but has money and wants to be a legislative candidate. In the end, he moved the money. The fact is that people like it. Over time it will be saturation.

If there is a politician who is caught in the OTT, don't rush to blame him, lest there is involvement of the people who want to accept the politician's money politics. So all of that has a reason. As a party we do not tolerate this practice. However, for corrections, political parties and the public need to think about cases like this.

The mindset of the people also needs to be changed. That a politician is not a person who is looking for work when he participates in the regional election or legislative elections. If he is selected, he will carry out political work and be a place to entrust the aspirations of the people.

The survey institutes have brought up the names of presidential candidates, the name Muhaimin Iskandar has also surfaced, what are your views on this?

In the 2024 election, there is no incumbent, like at a gas station, everything starts from scratch. So all candidates have the same starting point. The results of the survey are indeed favored but the percentage is still below 30 percent. So there is no guarantee that he will be elected. PKB continues to strive because there is an aspiration for Gus Muhaimin to run as a presidential candidate. We will process that. This is the moment that there are no incumbents, after COVID-19 and others. We will see further developments if there is another momentum that will emerge.

For the Presidential Threshold (PT), do you think it needs to be corrected?

This is actually difficult because there must be an amendment to the election law. So far, PT is at 20 percent, if you want to reduce it by 5 to 10 percent. Or if you want it to be like the 2004 election, the requirement was 10 seats in the DPR or 15 percent of the vote. This opens up more opportunities for candidates to enter. The consequence is that many election candidates can run twice. Depending on the goal, if you want to capture the opportunity for the PT to be lowered, if you want the PT round to be increased, just increase it. If the PKB is opened for revision, we will propose 5 to 10 percent of PT. For the parliamentary threshold, 4 percent is enough.

PKB if the coalition slices into which party for the next presidential election?

Since there were direct elections, PKB has always been included in the winning coalition. Some even say that the PKB is the key to victory in every coalition. We are an intermediate party, we can form a coalition up or down. The 2024 election is a momentum for our party to become the leader of the coalition axis. Whoever the party is in coalition with PKB, we are sure that he will be the winner, the question of whose figure will be sought. We have participated in the presidential election 5 times and that is an important note.

Everyone has their own tips for maintaining health. Likewise Dr. H. Jazilul Fawaid, SQ, MA, who always keeps the mind under control so that it can affect health, both physically and spiritually. For health matters, he has three indicators. When all three are fine it means he is in good health. Those three things are when it's good to eat, it's good to sleep and it's good to have a relationship with your wife.

The man who is often called Gus Jazil has empirical experience on how to keep the mind in check so that everything in his body can be controlled. “I really believe that health comes from the mind. I've asked the doctor, it turns out that the most contributing to the disease is from the mind," he said.

Having known this knot, he focuses his attention on keeping the mind well. The thing is that from the mind it will spread to various lines in the body, both physical and non-physical. "I always keep my mind, the target is not to have negative thoughts with people, revenge and so on. The thought can overwhelm us. Conflicts in the household must also be eliminated, "said the alumni of the Masters in Management Science (MSDM) State University, Jakarta and the Doctoral Degree in Government Sciences from the Institute of Domestic Administration, Jakarta.

Based on this formula, continued Gus Jazil, if there is no burden on the mind, it means that the body and spirit will be healthy. “If the mind is good then everything will be fresh. So the key is in the mind, when our minds are healthy, it will have an effect on health," he said.

In terms of food, until now he has no taboos. Because Gus Jazil is a culinary hobbyist. He includes people who like to eat and eat anything that tastes good. "I eat all the fruit, all the meat I eat except what is forbidden by Islamic law. And that makes me happy,” explained the man who was born in Gresik, East Java, December 5, 1971.

When it comes to food, it doesn't have to be difficult. However, he added that eating food should not be excessive. Everything is in sufficient quantity. The problem is that excess food will have a bad impact on the body. “Eat when you are hungry and stop before you are full. That's actually his guidance from the hadith of the Prophet. But when it's delicious, we sometimes forget, hehehe," he joked.

He has three indicators to measure himself healthy or otherwise. "To measure health for me is not difficult, firstly it is good to eat, secondly it is good to sleep. And the third is comfortable (tasty) when having sex with husband and wife. Of the three indicators that are currently all comfortable for me. So I'm healthy now, hehehe," he said with a distinctive laugh.

From the three indicators, he continued, it can be detected whether there are health problems or vice versa. "If you don't eat well, it means there's a problem. If you don't sleep well, that means there's a problem. And if you are not comfortable with your husband and wife, you are careful, that means there is a problem," he said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he limited space for movement in line with the government's policies to control the spread of the corona virus. Gus Jazil took advantage of his time by reading books. “Reading the book makes me fresh. The more I read the book, the fresher my mind becomes," he said. When it comes to reading books, he doesn't have a target.

There is a target for Guz Jazil is to read the holy book Al Quran. “Every day my target is to read one juz. Every month you have to finish 30 juz," he said.

Another thing that makes him excited is traveling with his children. “Walking with children is also refreshing. Besides that, if I have time I accompany the children to swim. That's an activity that I did during the pandemic in the midst of being busy as a people's representative and also a party administrator," said Muhammad Hilman Mufidi's father, Ganis Samahah, Kemal Amjad Mahdavi and Hilma Aqila.

He chose breathing exercise to nourish his body. "With this breath, it doesn't take long for the body to be sweating. Just like people who do physical exercise. That's all I do to maintain health. After that, the mind can relax, clear and the body can move. If it's a strenuous exercise for me, it's not suitable," he continued.

What can also make you healthy is smiling. “Smiling and laughing can also make us healthy. Smiling every morning can make you healthy. It's easy to make some people smile, but some are hard to smile. Because not everything we get can make us smile,” said the husband of Chalimatus Sa'diyah.

The paradigm in exercising for Gus Jazil is a little different. “I did change the paradigm in exercising. The first ones that are moved are the small nerves first, yes by smiling, laughing, and crying," he said.

Sport for Gus Jazil is not only a worldly affair. “Everything I move is transcendental. So the philosophy of life is to be healthy. The three indicators of health were; good to eat, good to sleep and good husband-wife relationship," he said.

According to Gus Jazil, young people are now trapped in material matters. To the youth of the nation, he hopes to always maintain physical and spiritual health. "That the best in you is your soul that must be guarded," he said.

The process of self-identification is very important. “Know yourself so you know yourself. What are we living for, and where are we going in this life?” he said.

Sometimes, he said, many young people forget themselves. "When he holds his cell phone he forgets himself, when he holds food he also forgets himself. When you have a lover, you also forget yourself. Remember the most important thing to keep within yourself is the soul or spirit," he said.

Young people today, he continued, are too forced to see material symbols. "It's as if happiness is outside of him, health is outside of him, pleasure is outside of him. Yet everything is within us. Imam Ghazali said in you there is a king who reigns and he has troops and commanders. Who is that king? It is your heart, take good care of it and fix it. In order to live a healthy life, have an orientation, it is clear where we want to go. Young people now no longer play with their hearts, but with cellphones, hehehe," said Jazilul Fawaid accompanied by laughter.

"To all Indonesian people, let's purify our politics to be dignified, not NPWP politics, number piro wani piro. That's called Money politics, or transactional politics. If this is practiced, the people who suffer first, apart from the politicians themselves, are the people,"

Jazilul Fawaid