When The LSI Survey Results Increasingly Confirm That There Are Indeed Many Who Do Not Agree That The 2024 Election Is Postponed

Election illustration (Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) released the results of a survey that captured public attitudes towards the issue of postponing the 2024 General Election. As a result, the majority of respondents stated that they did not agree with the proposals submitted by a number of officials in the country.

Through a survey taken using a simple random sampling method with 1,197 respondents with a margin of error of 2.89 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent, LSI revealed that there was a rejection of postponing elections on the grounds of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national economic recovery.

"Overall, 70.7 percent reject the extension of the presidential term. Among those who know about this issue, the rejection is even higher, namely 74 percent," said Djayadi when releasing the results of an online survey broadcast on YouTube LSI, Thursday, March 3.

"Meanwhile, among those who do not know about this issue, the rejection rate is lower, but the majority is still 67.5 percent," he added.

From this result, Djayadi said that there are two things that must be caught by the political elite in the country. First, the majority of the people reject the extension of the president's term of office.

"The second is that if this issue is spread more and more, the more the public knows it, the higher the rejection rate will be. The more the public knows, the more people will reject it. The basic attitude of the community is to refuse," he explained.

Furthermore, this survey also captures respondents who are satisfied with the work of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), refusing to extend the term of office of the former governor of DKI Jakarta. The level of satisfaction with the performance of the president this time is at 66.3 percent.

"People who are satisfied with the performance agree to the presidential extension? No. The majority of 60 percent said they prefer to continue holding the 2024 election, so being satisfied or dissatisfied with performance does not correlate with the acceptance rate of the extension of the presidential term," said Djayadi.

Political party response

The results of this survey were then responded to by a number of parties. PDI-P has stated that whether or not this survey exists, they want the 2024 General Election to be held as a form of obedience to the constitution.

PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto even mentioned President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and even mentioned this issue by saying that anyone who proposes an extension of the term of office means slapping his face and trying to find face. Thus, the polemic of postponing the election should be ended and need not be extended.

"This polemic does not need to be extended anymore. Even around the president we see (someone, ed) who does not understand the president's will," said Hasto at the LSI survey release event regarding the plan to increase the term of office which was broadcast online, Thursday, March 3.

"Because the President has stated that he is the leader of the country if someone proposes an extension, proposes a three-term position, wants to slap me in the face, wants to look for me in the face, that actually plunges me. That's what the president said," he added.

According to him, whatever reasons put forward to postpone the election, such as economic recovery to moving the capital city, are irrelevant. "The PDI-P will continue to be strong because there is no room for postponing the election for economic reasons, for reasons of IKN (National Capital of the Archipelago), and reasons related to the pandemic issue," he stressed.

After all, PDIP believes that the success of the government is not only determined by individuals, but also because of its sustainability in accordance with the rules.

So, instead of fussing over postponing the election, there are things that actually need to be discussed, including projecting how the government will run in the future, including making guidelines.

"Supposedly if we look at the importance of the sustainability aspect of the government in carrying out all the expectations of the people, what we review is for example the outlines of the state's policy," he said.

"About the direction of the state, what is the projection of Indonesia in 2045 so that this will be a gap line for the next government. So that the country is not driven by individual ambitions but by a course that absorbs the will of the people properly," added Hasto.

Apart from PDIP, the NasDem Party also spoke about the issue of postponing this election. The deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Commission II, Saan Mustopa, who is from the party created by Surya Paloh, asked that the high level of satisfaction with President Jokowi's government should not be manipulated as a basis for delaying the 2024 General Election.

According to him, the public's appreciation of the current government should not be allowed, but NasDem still adheres to the constitution, where the president's term of office is only five years.

"As a coalition political party and a party that supports Pak Jokowi, NasDem is proud of the level of public satisfaction with Pak Jokowi's performance," said Saan. postponement of elections or extension of presidential term," added the NasDem politician.

Saan reminded all parties to obey the constitution, in which elections must be held every five years and limiting the presidential term to only two terms.

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Laily Rachev

For information, the issue of postponing the election was first raised by the Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia. This was conveyed by Bahlil after absorbing voices from businessmen.

Then, this discourse was re-rolled by PKB Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar last week proposing the 2024 Election to be postponed by 1-2 years in order to maintain the momentum of national economic recovery.

Muhaimin's proposal was welcomed by the General Chairman of PAN, Zulkifli Hasan. He openly supports the discourse that the 2024 General Election is postponed due to economic reasons, the pandemic, and people's satisfaction with the government's performance which is believed to be high.

In addition, a similar proposal was also submitted by the General Chairperson of the Golkar Party, Airlangga Hartarto. He admitted that he received aspirations from farmers in Libo Jaya Village, Siak Regency who wanted the continuation of the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).