WHEN former United States President Donald Trump attended a court hearing in Washington DC, on August 3rd, 2023, it was an important milestone for United States politics. For the first time ever, a former President of the United States was accused of intervening in the process of validating the 2020 general election count in this superpower country on January 6th, 2021. The 45th former President of the United States, was prosecuted by Special Attorney Jack Smith in four charges: conspiracy to deceive the people of the United States of America, conspiracy to obstruct the official process for certifying election results, obstructing the official process for certifying votes, and conspiracy against the people’s right to vote.
The rioting at the US Parliament Building on January 6th, 2021 is one of the most controversial and profound moments in United States political history. The rioting occurred after President Donald Trump gave a speech near the White House, in which he again stated, without concrete evidence, that the 2020 election was rigged and he was the winner. Many observers and political leaders feel that Trump’s statements and actions before, during, and after the election contributed to the tensions that exploded that day. Since the election in November 2020, Trump and some of his supporters have loudly and repeatedly argued that there was massive election fraud, although these claims have been disputed by courts, election officials, and the Department of Justice in the United States.
As a result of these events, Trump became the first US president to be impeached twice by Congress in the United States. One of the charges was “incitement to rebellion”. Although he was later acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate at the time, this showed the extent to which many members of Congress felt he was responsible for the riot, especially Democrats.
However, the events of January 6th did not dim Donald Trump’s popularity in US politics. On the contrary, it has increased at least among Republican voters, continuously conveying to his loyal supporters, supported by conservative-leaning mass media, such as Fox News, that he is a victim of 2019 election fraud. It has been proven that Donald Trump’s political stamina is so strong that his efforts have been successful. Currently, Trump is the strongest presidential candidate in the Republican Party, where according to the latest New York Times/Sienna College Poll survey, Trump is far ahead of his closest rival, Florida Governor Ronald DeSantis, 54% vs 17%.
In addition to the case of interference with the 2020 Presidential election, Trump has been indicted in two other cases: allegedly withholding confidential government documents and falsifying business records to cover up bribe payments to porn stars. Trump now faces five upcoming trials – three in New York, over hush money payments, and a civil trial over his business practices and alleged defamation of a woman who accused him of rape. Another trial will take place in Florida regarding alleged mishandling of classified documents.
With so many cases that happened to him, Trump carried out an aggressive campaign against his supporters by attacking one of the instruments of law enforcement in the United States, namely the Attorney General’s Office, both at the Federal and at the local level, which he accused of being a tool of the government to thwart his candidacy for President again. This Playing Victim strategy turned out to be effective among Republican voters.
In a recent survey from the New York Times/Sienna Colleges, only 17% of Republican voters believed Trump had committed a crime, while 71% thought Trump was innocent. In addition, the United States government under the leadership of President Joe Biden has not shown good performance, especially in the economic field. According to a recent CNN survey, 51% of the US population thought that economic conditions were declining and could get even worse. Hence why it is not surprising that the level of support for President Biden’s overall performance is still low at 41 percent, while those who do not support his performance are greater, namely 59%.
This has divided US society between supporters of Trump and supporters of President Biden, with the legitimacy of the law enforcement system in the US being sacrificed. Of course, the effects of the 2020 presidential election where polarization among US society is very strong even until now, combined with efforts to delegitimize law enforcement must be avoided in Indonesia, especially since the political temperature in Indonesia has started to heat up.
Three Presidential Candidates, namely Former Governor of DKI Anies Baswedan, Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo and Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, have on paper met the minimum number of political party support requirements. However, due to the very protracted negotiations regarding the division of power, as well as the conflicting interests of political party elites, it has made it difficult for the Presidential Candidates to determine their Vice Presidential candidate until now.
Referring to the polarization in US society due to the effects of the election, President Joko Widodo’s government has a difficult task to make the general election in 2024 a success of being honest and fair. The impact of vote buying or money politics needs to be minimized in order to ensure that citizens actually choose legislative or presidential candidates based on the candidate’s competency, vision and program.
Supervision in the implementation of elections needs to be improved, in order to reduce intimidation and violence against voters, as well as eliminate the potential for vote fraud. Thus, the empowerment and financing of election supervisory institutions such as the General Election Commission (KPU) and the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) need to be increased.
In the era of digitalization and the use of Artificial Intelligence, the government, especially through the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo), should prevent the spread of propaganda and false information, through strict monitoring and data checking mechanisms.
The problem of high political costs has always been an obstacle for national and regional leadership candidates. It is necessary to create an effective mechanism for transparency and monitoring of campaign funding sources, to ensure the principle of equality in electoral competition. With the various preventive measures mentioned above, it is hoped that the elections in 2024 will be honest and fair, where national and regional leaders that will be selected are credible, have strong legitimacy, competent and have integrity. (S-4)
