‘Abah's Son’ Vocalises to Vote for 3 Candidates, DPR: Part of Political Aspiration, but Redundant

Photo by Aviv Rachmadian on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Commission II of the DPR RI highlighted the emergence of a movement to nominate three pairs of candidates in the DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election. The DPR appealed to Jakarta residents to continue to use their voting rights legally in the Pilkada even though they considered the movement a form of disappointment from the public.

"It is a form of disappointment or a form of protest from those who are disappointed in the implementation of the election. However, this cannot be called a goal because they still want to exercise their voting rights but it is not legal," said Member of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives Guspardi Gaus, Wednesday, September 11.

As is known, the movement 'Pick up three pairs of candidates (Paslon)' in the Jakarta Pilkada has recently been widely voiced on social media. The movement is said to have come from parties on behalf of 'Child Abah'. As is known, 'Child Abah' is a call for supporters of former DKI Governor Anies Baswedan.

The Abah Stab 3 candidate pair movement is considered a form of support disappointment because Anies Baswedan was not promoted by political parties in the DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election. Guspardi explained that the movement was different from the goalkeeper because the goalkeeper was the person who had voting rights but chose not to come to the TPS, while the three candidate pairs voting only aimed at making invalid votes.

"If the movement was only to convey a form of protest, it would make the ballot paper damaged and invalid by choosing the three candidate pairs," explained the legislator from the West Sumatra II electoral district.

"If it is damaged and invalid, it means it is useless, the votes will not be counted and there will be no additional votes for one of the candidates," added Guspardi.

The candidate pair 3 voting movement in the DKI gubernatorial election is also touted as a form of escort from the public who do not agree with the political dynamics in the current regional elections. The reason is that if they decide to abstain, unused rights voting paper has the potential to be misused.

Guspardi also appealed to the public to continue to channel voting rights according to the provisions, as part of democracy by participating in determining regional leadership candidates.

"Indeed, this is part of political aspirations, but it will be redundant. It would be better to choose one in 3 according to their aspirations, at least those who are close to them are like their leaders of hope," he appealed.

" Choosing is a right, not an obligation. But one vote is very decisive. Indeed, there is no rule or prohibition for those who make ballots invalid. It's just that it would be better if we become good Indonesian citizens by using voting rights," Guspardi said.

Commission II of the DPR in charge of electoral matters said that the election was a democratic party held for the people in choosing their leaders. So Guspardi hopes that the public can see the good side of each pair of candidates.

"If there are no figures of hope, you can see the vision and mission of the existing pairs of candidates. So you can know which one can most represent the aspirations of voters," he explained.

On the other hand, Guspardi assessed that the 3 candidate pairs' stabbing movement could be used as a lesson for all political parties, election organizers and the government to better ensure that the process of holding elections runs fairly, honestly, transparently, and accountably.

"This means that this is also a lesson for political parties, election organizers, and the government to provide the widest possible space for the community by not hindering candidates or candidates in the elections, especially until there are engineering," said Guspardi.

"So people still have hope and the desire to participate in this 'people's party'," he added.

Guspardi realizes that the candidate pair 3 voting movement is the constitutional right of every citizen, so that every citizen's decision deserves respect and appreciation as part of freedom of expression. However, the number of invalid votes in the election is said to cause the legitimacy of the election to be lower.

"Actually, this movement aims to make the political legitimacy of the 2024 Jakarta Pilkada for the elected governor very weak. Even though the legitimacy of voters towards regional head candidates is very important in the direct democracy chosen by the people," explained Guspardi.

For this reason, Guspardi again suggested to all Jakarta residents who have the right to vote to actively participate in the implementation of the Pilkada.

"Use the right to vote as well as possible, don't let the vote become meaningless," he said.

"We hope that among the existing candidate pairs, of course there are those who reach more for voters. Although it is impossible to be the same as the figures, at least no one is close to the aspirations of people who are disappointed because their figures are not nominated," concluded Guspardi.