ELECTIONS are a democratic process for electing people’s representatives or government officials directly by the citizens of a country. General elections are an important mechanism in a modern democratic system that allows the people to participate in determining the country’s leaders and policies.
The success of the 2024 simultaneous elections will be a determining moment for the nation’s future, especially in the next five years. Perhaps too many people talk about democracy, both from academic circles and from politicians and bureaucrats.
Academics have a tendency to view democracy from the perspective of democracy as universal values that can be found in any country that implements these political principles. Meanwhile, politicians and bureaucrats in Indonesia tend to view democracy with an excessive burden of ethnocentrism. Generally stated with the expression that we have our own cultural value system, so democracy in Indonesia must be in accordance with our own system and values. Or we don’t know liberal democracy, what we know is Pancasila democracy. That is also one of the problems with democracy in this country, but everyone really believes that democracy and elections are something that is necessary.
For people who are concerned about democracy in state administration, both general elections and elections are something that is required for the existence or absence of democracy, because elections are one of the milestones that must be held, otherwise there will be no democracy.
Therefore, democratic elections are not a routine task, but rather a prerequisite. It is not a vehicle for simply gaining legitimacy of power, but rather a vehicle where citizens have the opportunity to show their political aspirations in accordance with their conscience. Let’s welcome the 2024 Election with the Democratic Trust in a holistic and fundamental way.