By: Ahmad Syaufi *)
Local Leader Election is basically a process to attain legal formal authority which is carried out on the participation of the candidates, voters (constituents), and controlled by the supervisory institutions to gain legitimacy from the society which is authorized by applicable law.
In order to win the vote count, various attempts emerge to attract and obtain the votes are allowed and carried out, as long as not violate the law.
Various methods have been made by the candidates for regional head and deputy regional head candidates to attract public sympathy so in the general elections they will elect him. Various ways are used such as socialization before the registration stage and then continued by other methods for example campaign before the general election. Socialization, Hand-on Operation (known as blusukan in Indonesian) or other efforts carried out by candidates for regional head and deputy regional head candidates are always accompanied by the guide which has been known as a successful team. Success teams are formed by the candidates themselves or trough the political parties that carry them.
The culture of handing out money started when the candidate regional head especially began to introduce themselves through the political party that would carry them as candidates for regional heads.
All this time, Political Party Administrators, especially at the branch level, both regency and city do not formally stipulate that a region head candidate must be the Head of a Political Party Branch or a cadre of a political party, though possible the amount will not be much. If the candidate for the regional head is not the committee or cadre of the political party, hence when they introduce themselves to the Political Party Management at the District or City Branch Level, it means they have prepared funds as their dowry to able to pass the selection of candidates for regional head and deputy candidates.
In the general elections for regional heads and deputy regional heads during the period 2005-2014, money that was used as a dowry or vehicle rental by the regional head and deputy regional head candidates will be withdrawn by the Central Executive of the Political Party concerned in Jakarta. The dowry money can be handed over to the Branch Level Management in the Regency or City where the Political Party is located. The range amount of dowry money from hundreds of millions to billions of Rupiah depends on the potential and progress of the area.
Nowadays, the paradigm that occurs in society is, if they are not given or receive an instrument they are reluctant to vote or participate. The instrument was given on the grounds as a substitute for transport to the Polling Station, as a substitute for not working for a day. The Instrument that was given in the form of cash, the amount is adjusted to the financial capacity of the head and deputy regional head candidate. Mostly the range of the money given from Rp. 50,000,- (fifty thousand rupiah) to Rp. 100.000,- (one hundred thousand) submitted by the successful team of the candidates given in the morning on the day of the election and has been known as the dawn attack (serangan fajar).
The society term “nek ora ono dhuwite ora nyoblos” in Semarang Area and around Semarang or “ola uik ola obos” in Tegal Area and around it already became a culture. Votes of the society are not because they know the candidate, or understand the vision and mission if the candidate becomes the regional head in leading the region in five years ahead. However, they choose based on the money that they receive without knowing the candidate.
Legal culture as stated by Friedman as a tool to reinforce the fact that law is best understood and described as a system consisting of elements of legal structure, substance, and culture.
The birth of a legal culture comes from an internal process in which the development of society takes place, and during that time the interaction between residents and residents from outside took place to form behavior that became increasingly patterned and eventually the pattern of action by the majority of the community was considered to be the right one and was used as a guideline for action by the majority of community members. Thus, the legal culture can be interpreted as a shared value.
The legal culture of Indonesian society doesn’t support law enforcement in regional head elections, as well as other general elections because of the low awareness and law compliance.
Ahead of the simultaneous regional head elections in several regions in Indonesia on December 9, 2020, it is not something new if there is a possibility of the money politics, that’s why general elections identically with money politics. It cannot be denied that this has become a bad tradition for Indonesian people. Several things cause money politics, such as: First, the factor of the lack of closeness of political parties to the community, based on a survey conducted by Indonesian Political Indicators, around 85.5 percent of people do not have the closeness to political parties. The problem is the easier it is for them to be involved in the game of money politics because of this factor. This is considered normal by the community itself, but it is contrary to the values of an honest and fair democracy. Second, the level of education also greatly influences people’s involvement in money politics. Because, the higher a person’s intelligence level, he will be smarter in the way of choosing the leaders, regardless of money politics. Third, Indonesia is a country that has a fairly low level of welfare. This is the main factor that usually becomes the main reason people get caught up in the game of money politics so they can be sure that they will be easily lured with temporary profits.
The attitude of the people who do not obey the law and the low level of public awareness that all this time has assumed that money politics problems are common during the general elections to add to the more complexity of law enforcement in enforcing the law of money politics in regional head elections.
*) Faculty of Law, Lambung Mangkurat University Kota Banjarmasin Kalimantan Selatan Indonesian.
