Slander Waves To Jokowi Are Considered Potentially Injured Democracy

7th President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo/DOK BETWEEN PHOTOS/Fathul Habib Sholeh/foc/pri.

JAKARTA - The wave of negative narratives against former President Joko Widodo and his family has recently raised the concerns of many parties. Unverified issues, such as allegations of fake diplomas and political engineering, spread without a solid basis.

Law and political observer Pieter C. Zulkifli highlighted the emergence of a systematic pattern of character assassination that could potentially injure democracy. He reminded that if slander is left as a political tool, then what is destroyed is not only individual reputation but public trust in the country.

"The wave slander against former President Jokowi and his family is suspected to be not just criticism, but a political strategy ahead of the 2029 presidential election," said Pieter Zulkifli Salma in a written statement, Thursday, October 23.

According to Pieter, Jokowi's ten years of leadership is the most dynamic phase in Indonesia's modern history. During that period, this nation witnessed the acceleration of infrastructure development, digital transformation, and assertiveness of foreign diplomacy that emphasized sovereignty.

However, said Pieter, once power changed hands, a wave of narratives emerged that tried to sue all these achievements with systematic slander and disinformation. He also gave an example of fake diplomas as an example of the most striking case of how baseless accusations could develop wildly in public spaces.

"In fact, repeatedly the Constitutional Court, universities, and legal institutions stated that there were no irregularities, but the issue continued to be revived as if the truth could be determined by opinions, not legal facts," Pieter said.

According to Pieter, this phenomenon also shows how easily the digital space is capitalized by political interests that want to lead to public perceptions.

The former chairman of Commission III of the House of Representatives stated that when power was nearing its end, a group appeared who wanted to rewrite history with negative ink.

"They didn't talk about the data, but spread the narrative that all achievements were just imaging," he said.

In addition, Pieter assessed, in the era of social media, one viral upload could erase the hard work of a decade. According to him, this is the biggest challenge for the post-Jokowi government, namely maintaining public rationality so that it does not become dissolved in a systemically produced wave of disinformation.

Pieter is also of the view that the facts show that under Jokowi's leadership, the Indonesian economy grows by an average of 5 percent per year even though the world is hit by a pandemic and the global energy crisis (BPS, 2024). Then, infrastructure development is also carried out massively, starting from toll roads, dams, to new industrial areas that become the foundation of economic equity. Meanwhile, mineral downstream policy shows a new direction of national independence.

"It is not excessive if the World Bank refers to Indonesia as one of the countries with the best policy resilience in the region (World Bank, 2023)," he said.

Pieter also said that during Jokowi's leadership, Indonesia's authority had increased in the global arena. Jokowi is said to have appeared as a leader of Southeast Asia who dared to speak straightforwardly to the world's great powers, including the United States and China.

He even emphasized that Jokowi was the only Asian leader to dare to carry out peace missions to Kyiv and Moscow when the Russia-Ukraine crisis heated up. In the midst of global political pressure, Jokowi is said to be not afraid to emphasize that Indonesia is an independent and sovereign nation in taking a stand.

"But now, when the term of office has ended, a new wave of slander has emerged which is directed not only to Jokowi but also to his family. From business issues, political relations, to personal gossip, everything is corrected with a measurable pattern," he said.

According to Pieter, many observers think that this is not just criticism, but a character assessment designed to kill Jokowi's family political opportunities in 2029.

"The question is: why are they so afraid? Is it because the electability of Jokowi's family, especially Gibran Rakabuming Raka, still high in various national surveys? Or is it because Jokowi's moral strength and closeness to the people still considered a threat to the old, oligarchical political map? If that's the case, then slander and disinformation are nothing but a form of fear of healthy competition in democracy," said Pieter.

Pieter said, it must be admitted that there are certain agendas that play behind these destructive narratives. He said there is a political force that seeks to create negative public opinion so that Jokowi and his family are eliminated from the 2029 political arena.

"The tactics used are classic: fighting against each other, media framing, and exploitation of public sentiment through buzzers and anonymous accounts. They want to instill the impression that Jokowi is the past, even though his contribution is still real and relevant," he said.

Therefore, Pieter reminded that Indonesia should not be allowed to become a political stage controlled by lies and revenge for power. Democracy will only mature if all parties are willing to compete in a healthy manner, not by bringing down the opponent's character.

"Slander may change perceptions for a moment, but history will judge who works and who is just noisy," he said.

Pieter argues that the biggest post-Jokowi test is not about who is in power, but how this nation maintains its common sense. He reminded the public to be smart in sorting information, the media must dare to enforce ethics, and political elites should be ashamed to use lies as a means of fighting for sympathy.

"Because in the end, true democracy stands on the truth, not hatred," he concluded.