Bawaslu And Cross-Iman Leaders Collaborate To Prevent Political Polarity

Member of the Indonesian Bawaslu Lolly Suhenty opened a discussion related to the prevention of SARA politicization (photo: dock. inter)

JAKARTA - In an effort to prevent political polarization and heretical understanding in Indonesia, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) has held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with interfaith figures. The discussion was focused on naming the definition of hereticalism and identity politics to help Bawaslu develop prevention strategies so as not to appear in the upcoming elections.

"There needs to be an equivalence in the meaning of SARA politicization and identity politics as mitigation for Bawaslu to take precautions," said RI Bawaslu member Lolly Suhenty in Jakarta, Saturday, March 25.

Lolly Suhenty, expressed his hope that collaboration with interfaith figures would strengthen Bawaslu prevention efforts.

"Efforts to ensure that the quality of our democracy is getting better, of course, it can be seen from how strong it is to prevent and take action if there is a violation," said Lolly asserted, quoted by Antara.

"Our democratic quality is determined by our ability to prevent and deal with violations. By collaborating with interfaith figures, we hope to equate our definition and strengthen our prevention efforts," said Suhenty.

The interfaith figures who participated in the discussion consisted of representatives of Muhammadiyah, Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), Presidium of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI), Council of Spiritualists of the Indonesian Confucian High Council (MATAKIN), Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI), Representatives of Indonesian Buddhists (WALUBI), and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

Bawaslu member, Totok Hariyono, emphasized the importance of prevention as part of the concept of "coupling". "We prioritize prevention efforts before taking coaching actions. This is part of the concept of mutual cooperation elections," said Hariyono.

The collaboration between Bawaslu and interfaith figures is seen as a positive step to promote national unity and prevent hereticalism and identity politics from threatening future elections.