Alfiansyah Komeng, comedian
Jakarta, IO – In the midst of the 2024 election buzz, apart from the intense competition of the presidential election, another noteworthy appearance came from the Regional Representative Council election. Nearly undiscovered in any campaign, comedian Alfiansyah Bustami Komeng has garnered a significant number of votes and will most definitely enter parliament.
Notably, as of the vote counting on Tuesday, February 27, Komeng’s vote count reached 2.3 million in his West Java Province Constituency.
Komeng’s vote count is higher than that of several other seasoned politicians. The five politicians with the highest vote counts in the 2024 legislative elections include Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, Puan Maharani, Hillary Brigitta Lasut, Faisol Reza, and Haeny Relawati; unfortunately (for them), Komeng’s vote count surpassed them all, combined.
Komeng’s photo on the DPD ballot paper immediately caught the attention of voters, particularly with his background as a very funny comedian. The photo submitted to the Election Commission (KPU) is a selfie taken in front of his house with a comical facial expression.
The KPU official laughed at the photo and offered to change the humorous photo while there was still a chance.
“Well, when I went to the KPU, I brought the photo. He laughed (KPU officer),” said Komeng, as quoted from an interview video on the Trans7 Official YouTube channel on Friday, February 16.
“The officials chuckled and then I said, Well, sir, can I? Then he said, Yes, you can; there’s no prohibition. Then he asked again, Bang Komeng, don’t you want to change the photo?”. “I replied, No, it’s okay. He asked me three times. I said if you asked me one more time, you’d get an umbrella (an Indonesian joke, referring to an umbrella as a shopping bonus). He must have thought I was joking about the photo,” he added.
“I then said, I just wanted to be different. I like unconventional things for my comic style and concept,” explained Komeng.
Alfiansyah Bustami, better known as Komeng, always seems to have a funny answer, despite the serious questions asked of him. He was asked about his reason for joining the legislative election (DPD), and when he answered, “Well, being on a DPD list is obviously better than being on a DPO list (Daftar Pencarian Orang, translated as People Search List),” he teased the audience while being interviewed by CNN Indonesia TV, which aired on February 16.
“I still don’t understand how the party mechanism works, so I thought it was better for me to represent myself. I am free to decide at the DPD level,” he continued, in a serious manner this time.
He does not rule out the possibility of joining a political party in the future, reflecting on the past when he once said he was reluctant to enter politics but ended up becoming a candidate for the Regional Representative Council (DPD).
There have been several political parties inviting him to join. “Several parties, many of them, up to now. I still don’t have the intention of joining any party. Not yet,” said Komeng.
One of the things he fights for during his days in parliament is declaring a comedy day. This intention arose after he found difficulties in realizing his aspirations during his time as the chairman of the Indonesian Comedy Artists Association (Paski) of West Java.
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“We have all the days for all forms of art. We have Film Day and Music Day, but there’s no Comedy Day yet. Have you ever heard of it?” he asked back.
“Back then, I proposed Comedy Day, but it has not been established up to now. There have been changes in the chairman position without any updates or news. Would it be possible if I’m inside the parliament? I really want to do it for that reason,” he concluded.
Good luck with your duties, Senator Komeng! Uhuuy. (rp)
