Old Tweets Dismantled By Netizens Become A Blunder Candidate For Governor Of Jakarta?

Candidate for Governor and Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Pramono Anung-Rano Karno meets Sutiyoso or Bang Yos, Bekasi, Thursday (5/9/2024). (Pramono Anung-Rano Karno Documentation Team)

JAKARTA An old tweet from Ridwan Kamil and Pramono Anung, two Jakarta governor candidates, has been in the spotlight of netizens in recent days. Will this old upload cause a negative perception from the public?

Shortly after the Jakarta General Election Commission closed the registration of candidates for governor and deputy governor, anything that became the track record of candidates for public relations. Ridwan Kamil, who is paired with Suswono and promoted by 15 political parties, is said to have "sins" because he once mocked the city and citizens of Jakarta on his X account.

Even with a candidate from the PDI-P, Pramono Anung. The man who served as Minister of Cabinet Secretary was caught uploading a tweet that demeaned women.

PDIP election winning spokesman Aryo Seno Bagaskoro said anyone who intends to run in the Jakarta Pilkada must be ready to face a very critical political climate. Seno said, what happened today actually shows the maturity of the Indonesian people.

Ridwan Kamil's old tweets on X began to be in the spotlight since the demonstration against the Pilkada Bill in various cities on August 22. Since then, netizens have become more enthusiastic about skinning Ridwan Kamil's digital track record, mostly from 2010 to 2012. Among the events of Bang Emil, which may ignite the emotions of Jakarta residents are as follows.

'Tengil, gaul, glamorous, songong, stingy, prestigious, selfish, hard-working, resilient, showing off, hedon. That's the character of JKT people. #citybranding," which was written on June 6-2011.

"In addition to the money, is there another reason to like Jakarta?" which was written on June 17, 2012.

To note, at that time Ridwan Kamil had not yet become a public official. Bang Emil only became Mayor of Bandung in 2013-2016, before continuing to become Governor of West Java for the 2018-2023 period.

Pramono Anung's digital track record from 2010-2011 did not escape from netizens. These PDIP politicians have uploaded several statements that are considered demeaning to women.

What about Dharma Pongrekun? Cagub through this independent route has no experience in politics as his two competitors. However, Dharma's name had become a public conversation because he made controversial statements several times.

Starting from conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic, to his belief that the pandemic was being used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to'molate the chips in our bodies' and 'take over the country'. When the Starlink internet service was installed in a number of health centers in remote areas in Indonesia, Dharma called it part of the global paraelite'reset' agenda to control human life.

Ridwan Kamil has apologized through his X account when his old tweets were spread again. Not only admitting mistakes, he said the tweets were a form of expression before becoming a public official.

"However, for my old tweets, I admit that I was not wise in the past and maybe I was less than polite. I apologize if there are parties who are hurt, insinuated, or insulted by the way I express. Hopefully I can do even better in the future," said Bang Emil.

Another thing about Pramono Anung who did not regret his tweet at that time. He argued that what was conveyed in 2010 was a general joke at the time.

"Do I regret doing that? No. Because I never (intentioned) to blaspheme someone, demean people, then also pornography anddada. (What I convey) it's all about busy jokes and I'm sure everything in that generation does the same thing," said Pramono.

Executive Director of the Nusantara Institute PolCom SRC (Political Communication Studies and Research Center) Andriadi Achmad said the digital track record of Ridwan Kamil and Pramono Anung would not affect the electability ahead of the Jakarta Pilkada.

According to him, the Indonesian people tend to forget and forgive, so that the old tweets of the governor candidates will hardly affect the results of the Jakarta Pilkada vote. Moreover, until now some people still believe that the implementation of the regional elections has been arranged in such a way as to win one of the pairs.

Digital steps have an effect, but they are not big. Because the tendency of the Indonesian voters is easy to forget and easy to forgive. So what Jakarta Pilkada contestants have been doing so far is not necessarily well recorded by the public, they don't even care," Andriadi told VOI.

"Moreover, the three candidate pairs have not been in contact with Jakarta. Pramono is mostly in the national elite circle (legislative and executive), Dharma Pongrekun (Polri) and Ridwan Kamil in West Java," he added.

The pair of candidates for the Governor and Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Dharma Pongrekun and Kun Wardana gave a statement to reporters after undergoing a medical examination at Tarakan Hospital, Central Jakarta, Sunday (1/9/2024). (ANTARA/Lutfia Miranda Putri/am)

Before finally being nominated in the capital city, said Andriadi, the people of Jakarta did not really care about the digital footprint of the three candidates. Another story is if Anies Baswedan or Basuki Tjahaya Purnama had a digital track record because the two were considered quite close to Jakarta.

"Unlike Anies or Ahok, of course, the people of Jakarta know very well without the need to see the digital footprint of the two," said the lecturer at FISIP, Al-Azhar University Indonesia.

Even if we want to read directly, the winner of the Jakarta Regional Election actually already exists, namely Ridwan Kamil. It's a different story if Anies Baswedan participates in enlivening the Jakarta gubernatorial election," Andriadi concluded.

However, a political communication observer from Multimedia Nusantara University (UMN) Silvanus Alvin expressed a different opinion. According to him, emotions are essential in political communication. It is said that the old uploads of governor candidates can lead to negative perceptions from the public so that now each candidate faces a 'trust cycle'.

"This error of trust can later have an impact on the narrative that is trying to be built. If it is contradictory, then people will tend to judge a campaign activity or message as mere imaging," said Alvin.

The next effect is that candidates will spend more time responding to this negative campaign. The focus of the campaign could shift from important issues that candidates want to raise to their personal controversy, disrupting the narrative of the campaign that has been planned," he added.

However, Alvin assessed that public perceptions could change during the campaign period, depending on several things such as candidate performance in reporting and on social media, advertising intensity, or proposed policies.