The Empty Box Collos Movement Forms Of Resistance To Political Elites

Illustration (Photo: Doc Antara)

JAKARTA Unsoed political observer, Indaru Setyo Nurprojo, believes that the phenomenon of the emergence of movements or invitations to vote for empty boxes in the 2024 Simultaneous Pilkada is a form of resistance to political elites.

This is because in the 2024 Simultaneous Pilkada there are still many political elite maneuvers that intend to create single candidates in various regions.

"This is a form of disappointment or more precisely the resistance of voters or the public to the political elite," he said, Sunday, September 22, 2024.

According to Indaru, this phenomenon of resistance has arisen because recently people have often been shown elite maneuvers at the national level who ignore political ethics and public desires.

He gave an example, the emergence of an empty box voting movement in the Banyumas Regency Pilkada which was only attended by one candidate or single candidate.

For example, in Banyumas Regency, the public has seen other candidates. However, at the end of the seconds, political parties changed their support until they only narrowed to one pair of candidates. When the party elite reversed support unilaterally, the people saw this as a violation of ethics, as happened in the national arena, "he explained.

He admitted that the maneuvers carried out by the elite-elite political parties were something that was legal to do.

Unfortunately, the public has its own views regarding these maneuvers.

Indaru said that the movement to vote for empty boxes was not just a matter of losing or winning, but avoiding political hostages after the election.

"Actually, this movement is not limited to winning and losing, but also regarding the fate of democracy. Whether the single candidate pair will be held hostage by the interests of the party elite or the people will have the power to fight back," he said.

Therefore, he hopes that the phenomenon of the emergence of an empty box voting movement, including in Banyumas Regency, can be a lesson for the elite political parties.

"Hopefully this empty box voting phenomenon reminds the political party elite to jointly build a good and correct democracy awareness," added Indaru.