Revote Shows Political Maturity of the Community
By: Citra Arum
The Revote (PSU) held in various regions as a follow-up to the Constitutional Court’s decision regarding the dispute over the results of the 2024 Pilkada has succeeded in stealing the public’s attention, not because of the polemic, but because it shows the quality of political maturity that is starting to take root in the Indonesian democratic system. The public’s positive response to the PSU is a reflection that the democratic process is still maintained and respected by the people, especially when carried out with accountability and integrity by all stakeholders.
Comprehensive support and supervision from the government, election organizers, supervisors, and security forces form an ecosystem that allows the PSU to take place in an orderly and legal manner. One important example is seen in North Gorontalo Regency. Monitoring carried out by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) of Gorontalo Province regarding the readiness of the PSU is real evidence of the state’s commitment not only to holding elections, but also to ensuring that the entire process is principled and accountable.
The Head of the North Gorontalo Regency KPU, Sofyan Jakfar, said that the presence of BPKP in the preparation stage had a positive impact in ensuring that all planning mechanisms ran according to the rules. According to him, the PSU in his area was not only a constitutional obligation, but also a momentum to strengthen public trust in the election process. He considered that the success of the PSU implementation would be greatly determined by collaboration between institutions, both in terms of administration, technical, and logistics. Sofyan also added that public participation in the PSU was an important barometer indicating the quality of election implementation at the local level.
Cross-sector synergy in the implementation of the PSU also received attention from the regional legislature. Emi Lasari, Member of Commission II of the Banjarbaru City DPRD, considered that all stages of the PSU that had taken place so far had shown the seriousness of the state in guarding the principles of honesty and fairness in the election. For Emi, the implementation of the PSU was not only a means to resolve disputes, but also an arena to test the extent to which all parties were able to respect the rules of the game in democracy.
Emi viewed that after the PSU was implemented, the community should join hands again to build a conducive and productive atmosphere. He highlighted the importance of a mature attitude in accepting the election results, because without it, national development will continue to be held hostage by unnecessary divisions.
Emi also emphasized that the experience of the PSU must be a shared lesson. According to him, collective awareness not to make political differences a source of prolonged conflict is an urgent need so that the development agenda is not delayed. He expressed his hope that the community would not only be active in the voting process, but also actively maintain social stability after the results are determined.
Meanwhile, from the eastern region of Indonesia, the Chairperson of Setya Kita Pancasila of Papua Province, Absalom Kreway Yerisitouw, gave strong emphasis on the importance of the involvement of all parties in maintaining neutrality and security during the implementation of the PSU. He voiced the aspirations of the Papuan people so that the election would no longer be a trigger for instability, but instead become a shared space to voice political choices peacefully. Absalom saw that previous experiences must be used as lessons so that there would be no more administrative negligence that harmed public trust, such as cases related to population documents.
Absalom also emphasized the importance of the role of security forces in creating a safe and comfortable atmosphere during the PSU process. According to him, the success of the election is highly dependent on the sense of security felt by the community when casting their votes. He considered that the presence of TNI and Polri officers in the capacity of maintaining order must be synergized with the efforts of election organizers and supervisors who act professionally. That way, the PSU in Papua can be an example in the implementation of peaceful democracy in a region that often faces its own socio-political challenges.
Seeing the readiness of logistics, budget, and voter participation in various regions, the government is considered to have succeeded in presenting an orderly and responsible PSU. Not only ensuring that the process runs administratively, but also maintaining the quality of the substance of democracy that provides space for the community to return to exercise their voting rights with full confidence. The steps taken by the central and regional governments reflect the seriousness in ensuring that democracy runs flawlessly.
