The recent months have witnessed wide-scale election campaigns in Indonesia for presidential candidates. While the candidates do not differ in their approach of touring between provinces, the notable phenomenon is the emergence of dialogue and debate between the candidate and the voters. This new approach involves the candidate engaging in discussions with the audience instead of merely delivering speeches from a high platform and leaving without any exchange of conversation.
This style was evident with the candidate of the Change Alliance, Anies Baswedan, through the talk show program “Challenge Anies” or “Cornering Him with Questions,” which attracted thousands of attendees and traversed different provinces. Anies would sit on a platform amidst the audience where attendees would start asking him questions and engaging in discussions that carried a challenging tone.
The factors that may have led Baswedan’s campaign to introduce this idea include his academic persona accustomed to dialogue and listening to critics. With his academic background as a university professor and former president of Paramadina University, culminating in his governance of Jakarta for five years until 2022.
Another factor is the presence of a large segment of youth eager for discussions, exchange of opinions, and presenting challenges to the candidates. This dynamic is especially prominent amid intense debates in Indonesia between those seeking change versus those supporting the continuity of the current President Joko Widodo’s rule, with the potential transfer of power to his Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his son Raka Bumi Rachman, the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the Advance Indonesia Alliance, aligning with the narrative of the change alliance striving for political transformation rather than continuity.
22 Dialogues
The “Challenge Anies” dialogue was held 22 times, with the latest session taking place in Surabaya, the second-largest city in Indonesia. The dialogues carried the slogan “Let’s Change Together” and were presented and organized by youths from those cities. Each episode featured different hosts, and participants held critical or satirical banners regarding the current situation, which Anies read and addressed.
Various issues were discussed, including freedom, democracy, neutrality of power in elections, healthcare, child welfare, foreign investment exacerbating unemployment issues, challenges faced by retirees, reforming state-owned companies, high costs of medical studies, and shortages of doctors in many regions.
Youth’s Political Needs
Evi Sinta Dewi, a political rhetoric professor at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia, believes that “political transformations, especially those related to political ethics and the decline of democracy, have bred a critical youth class seeking change.” She notes that programs like “Challenge Anies” are appealing because they “turn social issues into political matters, addressing the queries of critical young voters who aspire to change the country’s conditions.”
According to Dewi’s study, 77.7% of the youth born between 1997 and 2012 in West Java, Indonesia’s most populous province, feel the need for political education, with 98.8% considering political culture significant for them.
She emphasizes the significance of such dialogue programs in fostering a dialogical tradition among the youth and shaping public opinion, enabling collective shifts in societal trends.
“Hold Anies Accountable”
In the final days of the election campaign, Mohamed Mahfouz, the vice-presidential candidate alongside Gantar Pranowo from the Struggle for Democracy Party, embraced the idea of dialogue programs and launched a similar show called “Confront the Professor.” Leveraging his academic and judicial experience, Mahfouz, a 66-year-old university professor who previously served as the President of the Constitutional Court, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, and Defense Minister, although less popular, applied this approach.
Policy expert Nasr Al-Zaman views such dialogue programs as raising the assessment standards of candidates in the eyes of voters, marking a shift in election campaign styles. He believes this approach makes it a popular requirement for candidates to engage in dialogue and debates with voters in the future, utilizing sessions akin to those initiated by Anies Baswedan, later emulated by Mohamed Mahfouz.
Conclusion
The Indonesian election campaigns have witnessed a significant shift towards more interactive and dialogue-driven approaches, aiming to capture the attention of youths and engage them in political discussions. These programs not only provide a platform for critical questioning and debate but also contribute to building political awareness and shaping public opinion. As voters seek accountability and transparency from their candidates, the prominence of such dialogue initiatives reflects a new era of political engagement in Indonesia, emphasizing the need for candidates to uphold their promises and engage in meaningful interactions with the electorate.
