Gus Jazil: Avoid Money Politics, Choose Leaders With Conscience In The 2024 Pilkada

Illustration of Money Politics (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The simultaneous 2024 Regional Head Election (Pilkada) will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, November 27. The chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction in the Indonesian House of Representatives, Jazilul Fawaid, appealed to the public not to choose its leader because of the lure of money.

The reason is, according to Jazilul, in a calm period before voting, it is prone to buying and selling votes, which is commonly called a dawn attack.

On the other hand, the former deputy chairman of the MPR also reminded regional head candidates not to 'play with fire' by doing transactional politics. Because, said Jazil, it is a form of violation of the law.

The regions that will elect new leaders are 545 regions with details of 37 provinces, 415 districts, and 93 cities.

"I believe voters are getting smarter to choose leaders who are committed and qualified," said Jazilul, Tuesday, November 26.

Jazilul, who is familiarly called Gus Jazil, assessed that the public must have the courage to refuse if there is an offer of money politics to select certain candidates. He encouraged law enforcement officers and election supervisors to eradicate these illicit practices.

"This is important, there must be public awareness to choose a leader using conscience and common sense, not because of the lure of money. I also ask law enforcement officers, the Police, Bawaslu to be firm in eradicating the practice of money politics," he said.

According to Gus Jazil, there are already laws and regulations that impose sanctions if there are voters who receive money politics. Based on Article 187A paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of Law 10 of 2016 concerning Pilkada, givers and recipients of money politics can be charged with a criminal sanction of three years to six years and a fine of Rp. 200 million to Rp. 1 billion.

"Stay away from money politics because it is what destroys our democracy. Don't because of the lure of a piece of Rp50,000, we chose the wrong leader for five years," said the Deputy Chairman of the DPR RI Budget Agency.

The legislator from Bawean Island, Gresik, East Java said, the implementation of the 2024 Simultaneous Pilkada is the right momentum to carry out clean democratic politics for a better future for the nation. If voters have a commitment to reject money politics, he added, PKB believes the elected leader is a trustworthy leader and is also competent.

Based on the results of the Kompas Research and Development survey in three Pilkada, namely the Central Java Pilkada (15-20 October 2024), Jakarta (20-25 October) and the North Sumatra Pilkada (22-28 October), most of the respondents considered it reasonable to have money given to prospective voters in order to elect a certain deputy governor - deputy governor candidate.

However, as many as 76.3 percent of respondents admitted that they would not change their choice if they accepted the offer of money or other assistance. Meanwhile, as many as 14.4 percent of respondents answered they did not know.

"I'm sure, smart voters choose the right leader when using their right to vote," concluded Gus Jazil.