TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Both presidential hopefuls from the ruling and the opposing parties have equally shared several political mishaps and exchanged unsubstantial statements on the 2019 presidential election campaign.
Recent examples of these were when Prabowo Subianto made a demeaning comment about the Boyolali people and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo when he linked the current political climate to the mythical ‘Genderuwo’ creature.
Lingkar Madani executive director Ray Rangkuti felt that presidential hopefuls are treating their campaign sarcastically. “The political realm is already saturated with nyinyir’ politics [sarcastic politics]. Everyone needs to return to a substantive campaign,” Rangkuti told Tempo on Sunday.
Read: Jokowi Slams `Genderuwo` Politics in Speech
In the current situation where presidential hopefuls are dully scrutinized, Rangkuti said the statements would only stir up Indonesia’s political atmosphere again. “This will result in the public quibbling on statements that are insignificant and paint the campaign’s face as a fight filled with offenses, but have yet entered substantial matters,” said Rangkuti.
Meanwhile, a political researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Arya Fernandez, said the presidential and vice presidential hopefuls had lost both of their narratives on their programs. As a result, such narratives have sparked emotional and negative narratives.
Read: Prabowo Subianto Apologizes for `Boyolali` Derogatory Comment
“Both camps have lost their narratives,” Arya told Tempo on Sunday, November 11.
Arya said this situation was an irony for both camps, and that they should have vied through ideas and programs.
“Based on the research of several agencies, the public is still unaware of the programs offered by both candidates,” Arya said.
BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI
