Empty Box Wins, People Don't Believe In Single Candidates

Volunteers for the empty box in Pangkalpinang city are not in vain, they can outperform the votes of the sole candidate. (Doc Rekawan Kotak Blank)

JAKARTA The phenomenon of empty boxes in the 2024 Pilkada occurred in various regions in Indonesia. However, what happened in Pangkalpinang City was the most attention-grabbing. The reason is, the empty boxes in this city won the most votes in quick calculations conducted by several survey institutions and volunteers.

According to Muhamad Zen, Secretary of Home Aspiration for the Empty Box of Pangkalpinang City, the acquisition of votes while the empty box reached more than 59% of the total votes that came in. "The rest was achieved by the incumbent candidate. Following the empty box, it seems difficult because the difference in voice is far away, around 13,000 votes," he said when contacted by VOI, Friday, November 29.

The victory of the empty box in Pangkalpinang, according to Zen once he is usually called occurs because people do not believe in single candidates. "Obviously, this empty box victory occurred because people did not believe in single candidates," he said.

Zen questioned why no other candidate was proposed by the existing political parties. "Of the many parties, can no single cadre be proposed as a candidate for mayor and deputy mayor? So, so that not only single candidates have to fight empty boxes," he said.

Zen added that all political parties in Pangkalpinang City provide support to the candidate pair Maulana Aklil and Masagus M. Hakim. "Not a single political party has representatives in the Pangkalpinang City DPRD who do not support the Maulana Aklil and Masagus M. Hakim pairs. Therefore, according to KPU regulations, single candidates must face empty boxes," he explained.

For information, the Molen and Hakim pairs are supported by PDIP, Golkar, Nasdem, Gerindra, Democrats, PPP, PKB, PKS, and PAN.

Zen also questioned the existence of independent candidates. "There are independent candidates who are trying to run in the 2024 Pilkada. However, with various efforts, their candidacy failed and did not pass the administration," he said.

According to Zen, this empty box victory is a valuable lesson for all parties, especially politicians. "I think the victory of the empty box in the Pangkalpinang City Pilkada is a hard slap for politicians. Come on, in the future we will learn from this case. Let's build and live democracy. Don't let everything be controlled by yourself by buying up existing political parties," he said.

Strong democracy, Zen continued, must provide space for dissent. "Different opinion can be input and criticism for the authorities. What happens if all parties support the authorities? No one will criticize them when they exercise power," concluded the question of winning an empty box in the regional election in Pangkalpinang city.