UIN Jakarta Seminar and Book Review: Read the 2024 Election Landscape and Improve Democracy

FDIKOM UIN Jakarta, UIN Online News - In the context of waiting for the results of the Indonesian General Election (Pemilu) which will be announced on March 20, 2024 at the latest, UIN Jakarta held a national seminar and book review entitled "Reading the 2024 Election Landscape: A Political Literacy Perspective" at the Prof. Dr. Aqib Suminto Theater Room on Friday, (8/3/2024).

Executive Director of UIN Jakarta's Center for Communication and Media Studies (P2KM), Dr. Deden Mauli Darajat, M.Sc, in his remarks explained that the book being dissected was the result of discussions from researchers at The Political Literacy Institute.

As the keynote speaker of the event, Dean of the Faculty of Da'wah and Communication Sciences (FDIKOM) Dr. Gun Gun Heryanto, M.Si, emphasized the importance of maintaining elections as the backbone of democracy. According to him, records regarding the worrying election process must be used as material for reflection for improvement.

"Elections must be cared for, because it is one of the backbones of democracy. Therefore, if there are many notes that show a worrying election process, find the paradox point and make it a reflection material to be improved," he said.

Public participatory awareness is the key to improving democracy, he added, so that the defects of Indonesian democracy which are now in the cluster of countries with low democracy based on The Economist Intelligence University index can be corrected. Especially about weak political literacy.

The event was also attended by Political Science Lecturer and Vice Dean I of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP), Dr. Iding Rosyidin, M.Si, National Development University (UPN) Political Science Lecturer Dr. Ana Sabhana Azmy, M. Ip, senior researcher at the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) Fadli Ramdhanil SH. MH, and senior journalist at SindoTV MNC Group Ike Kesume.

In line with the statement of the Dean of FDIKOM, Iding Rosyidin highlighted the problem of weak political literacy and democratic political culture that has not been fully developed in Indonesia. According to him, this was caused by regulatory changes during the reform period, where democratic political changes were not preceded by building a democratic culture itself, starting from the thoughts, attitudes and behavior of the people.

Therefore, a solid political democratic culture is needed to improve the political process and avoid the pragmatic interests of political parties that damage election regulations.

Anna Sabhana Azmy discussed the issue of democracy in the international scope, namely the issue of women migrant workers' political rights. She also questioned the Freedom House Index related to the freedom of Indonesian citizens abroad, Anna noted that the decline in scores from year to year showed problems in political rights and civil liberties.

"In the context of Freedom House related to freedom (voting rights) of Indonesian citizens abroad in 2023 is "Partly Free" with a score of 58/100 where political rights are 30/40 and civil liberties are 28/60. Meanwhile, in 2021 it was 59/100 and 2020 61/100. This shows a decline, our democracy is in trouble and not fine," he explained.

Meanwhile, Fadli Ramdhanil revealed a number of bad records for the 2024 elections including the issue of proceedings to the Constitutional Court (MK), politicization of Ethnicity, Religion, Race and Intergroup (SARA), digital campaigns, and social media as well as critical issues related to KPPS members who were negligent in their work. Not only that, he also touched on the integrity and professionalism of the election management organization, to the political ethics of politicians or officials in elections.

Ike Kesume pointed out the positive things in the development of media, especially on Television (TV) during the election. He found differences in the 2014 and 2019 elections which were busy with political polarization in the media, while the 2024 elections were strong with political dramatization, especially in the context of strengthening the role of the media with symbolic convergence revealed in the book.

In the seminar and book review entitled "Reading the 2024 Election Landscape: A Political Literacy Perspective", the speakers hoped to provide an in-depth view of the 2024 elections and the challenges of Indonesian democracy, as well as a stage for reflection for future improvements. (Alifia H./Novia Syifaputri R.)