Golput Is Not A Choice Because It Has An Impact On National Development

Anti-Golput campaign at the grassroots level is thought to be able to ward off Golput's campaign on social media. (Between)

JAKARTA Golput invites always appear in every general election event (election), including in the 2024 General Election. Why does Golput always appear and what impact does it have on development?

Golput is often identified as indifferent, apathy, or indifferent to political conditions, so they ultimately choose not to go to polling stations (TPS) to vote.

Included in Golput are voters whose votes are not counted and people who do not exercise their voting rights.

But actually Golput was originally a resistance movement, not just voting in elections for lazy reasons or apathy.

Golput stands for the white group. Quoted from Kompas, Golput was originally a student and youth protest movement ahead of the 1971 elections. At that time, the Golput movement arose because of the disappointment of students who thought Golkar and the government had cheated ahead of the 1971 elections, such as causing party divisions and scaring the public.

Golput is a resistance movement against the New Order government led by Suharto which is considered to be holding elections undemocratically.

The Golput campaign first took place at the Jakarta Cultural Center, spearheaded by Arief Budiman, Imam Walujo, Husin Umar, Jusuf AR, Julius Usman, Asmara Nababan, and Adnan Buyung Nasution. They invite people who do not want to choose political parties and Golkar to vote for the white part or the vacant part in the ballot.

The Golput movement then spread to other cities, but the New Order government said Golput's actions were against the constitution. As a result, the New Order government declared Golput illegal and arrested several people who mobilized it.

The Golput campaign is no longer visible in politics, although the reality is still inseparable in every election event until now.

Although the Golput movement is always present in every election event, according to the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) Denny JA, Golput data in the 2019 presidential election reached 19.24 percent. This figure is against the Golput trend which has continued to rise since the post-reformed election. For information, the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Golput level in the 2004 presidential election was 23.30 percent, then it continued to rise to 27.45 percent and 30.42 percent in 2009 and 2014.

A political observer from Al Azhar University Indonesia, Ujang Komarudin, said that Golput is always identified as a form of carelessness and disappointment. According to him, the Golput movement will cause political problems and have a major impact on national development.

"Golput is not an option, Golput is a form of indifference and disappointment that will actually cause political problems and have an impact on national development," he said, quoted from Antara.

Ujang said, Golput because of the apathy attitude will not solve the problem and has the potential to have an impact on the nation's development. Therefore, said Ujang at least no matter how many candidates for the presidential and vice presidential candidates are offered, they must still be chosen according to their conscience and rationality.

"The best choice is from the existing one according to the heart and rationality," he said.

Not only that, the practice of Golput is also considered to have an effect on the legitimacy of the election itself. This means that if voter participation is low, the election is considered a failure.

"In this context, the legitimacy of the elected Vice Presidential Candidate will be low. Therefore, the level of participation is important," Ujang emphasized.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Aceh Ulama Consultative Council (MPU) Tgk Faisal Ali forbids Golput or does not vote in the 2024 General Election.

"Because choosing a leader in Islam is a mandatory law, if Golput means not to vote, then the law is haram," said Tgk Faisal Ali.

He emphasized the attitude of the Aceh MPU based on the attitude of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) which has forbidden Golput in elections. Golput's own illicit legal basis is based on the fatwa Ijtima' Ulama of the Indonesian Fatwa Commission on Masa'il Asasiyah Wathaniyah or national strategic issues set on January 26, 2009 with the title Use of Vote Rights in General Elections.

There are five items listed in the fatwa, one of which is choosing a leader who does not meet the requirements such as the four or intentionally does not choose even though there are candidates who meet the legal requirements are haram.

"The MUI field chooses a fatwa like that based on the view that Islam chooses a mandatory leader so that if it does not produce a legal leader, it is haram, including Golput," he said.

The invitation not to Golput in the 2024 General Election was also called for by the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Millennial Activists Community Gen KAMI Ilham Latupono. He invited young voters from millennials and Gen Z to exercise their right to vote.

Ilham emphasized that the participation of young voters in the elections could determine the fate of the sustainability of strategic projects and massive infrastructure development in the last 10 years.

Young people are anti-Golput. This is not only a matter of our political rights, but this election is very crucial and determines Indonesia's future, the fate of our own young people, even the fate of our children in the future," said Ilham through an official statement.

As is known, the number of prospective voters for millennials and Gen Z reached around 55 percent of the total number of voters. On this basis, Ilham assessed that the impact of young voters' political participation could strengthen the nation's chances of achieving the ideals of Indonesia Gold 2045.

"Golden Indonesia belongs to young people, not those who are now over half a century old," he said.