Reading Erick Thohir's Activities From The Eyes Of Political Communication Experts, Interested In Trying Out The 2024 Presidential Election?

Photos via the Ministry of SOEs Erick Thohir

JAKARTA - Traces of Erick Thohir's activities are easy to find on various social media platforms. From Instagram to TikTok. The Minister of State-Owned Enterprises joined the various commotions that occurred there.

On TikTok for example. Erick can explain various questions about vaccines in a TikTok style. In this social media, we will see a lot of Erick who is far from formal. He often uploads his activities with residents even though he is still in the corridor of work.

Erick could become a pharmacist at Kimia Farma Depok. Or while discussing with residents, the chat from the Chairperson of the Asian Games Organizing Committee can also turn into discussing the issue of cats that are wandering. Whereas on Instagram it is a combination. Every now and then it's a job, but this former ANTV President Director is packaged very fresh.

Most recently, Erick gave millennials the opportunity to replace his position as minister even for one day.

Erick's name was already widely known to the public, long before he entered the Jokowi-Maruf cabinet. Especially for football fans. He was once the President of the Italian club, Inter Milan. Erick was also the carriage leader of Jokowi's winning team in the 2019 presidential election.

It's no wonder that his name is predicted to enter the 2024 presidential election arena. In the Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) survey last August, Erick Tohir's electability also increased. Compared to the April survey, Erick's electability jumped sharply from 0.2 percent to 4.7 percent, approaching the Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil.

For Political Communication Observer from Esa Unggul University Jakarta, Jamiluddin Ritonga, what the Mahaka Group boss did gave a signal that Erick Tohir was trying to get the public's attention.

"There are indications that Erick Tohir has inflated his name. It is true that he has recently started using social media", Jamiluddin told VOI, Tuesday, October 5.

From Jamiluddin's perspective, the steps of the man who was born in Lampung on May 30, 1970, are somewhat different from that of the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, whose name is also often referred to as a potential presidential candidate. Anies tends to convey his work progress using social media. Meanwhile, Erick Tohir did not raise the issue of his work on social media but rather showed social activities outside of work.

"In the context of political communication, it is an attempt to introduce himself further to a wider audience. The method is more subtle because he is currently bound to become a servant. so that in introducing himself for the presidential candidate he cannot be direct, because if he is direct he will receive criticism from several people or parties", explained Jamiluddin.

"So indeed what Erick Tohir has done is also like what other ministers have done. Trying to make a fortune, who knows that indirect inducement will get sympathy from the public", he continued.

According to Jamiluddin, Erick Tohir's social media activities and work visits to several regions are inseparable from his efforts to fish and introduce himself to the wider community about his desire to run for the 2024 presidential election.

"Of course he will not convey it directly (directly, ed). So he uses nonverbal symbols, and that is indeed a characteristic of eastern communication. Especially we in Indonesia don't like people who want to become presidential candidates who immediately say 'I want to run' because people like that are considered ambitious", he explained.

In eastern culture, especially Javanese, said Jamiluddin, people who are too outspoken about running for president are not worthy of being leaders. Because in the context of political communication in Indonesia, a person who wants to nominate will usually use other people or become a third party to be encouraged that he is worthy to be a leader. For example, the name is raised by observers or declared by volunteers.

"This is what many candidates have seen, such as what Ganjar Pranowo did. The emergence of volunteers in various parts of the country and abroad is a way of political communication by easterners using a third hand for personal gain", he said.

"I think Erick Tohir did the same thing. Only because he was a minister he did not dare to bring up volunteers who campaigned for him for the presidential candidate. So what he did was very subtle", added Jamiluddin Ritonga.

Jamiluddin Ritonga again gave an analysis that the man who was recorded as having a wealth of Rp. 2.31 trillion from the 2020 LHKPN could run in the 2024 presidential election. The initial indication was that Erick began to be diligent in greeting the community directly with working visits to areas.

"They convey a symbol by showing their performance by visiting many areas, so they depict a leader who pays attention to the people. That's what many ministers do to the regions", said Jamiluddin.

"So, he is trying to find a loophole in a subtle way, wanting or hoping to get support from the community or political parties. Like it or not, he is not a political party person, therefore he has to seek community support in the hope that he will be noticed by political parties.If not RI 1, he hopes at least to get RI 2 support", he said.