Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | 18:01 WIB

Is Wiranto starting to turn against Jokowi?

Haris Winarto
INDEPENDENT OBSERVER

IO – Wiranto, our Coordinating Minister of Politics, Justice, and Security, has delivered a narrative that may arouse some brouhaha. If it were to be actually implemented, Wiranto might have to fight against Jokowi. His action would be considered as an act of subordination. In order to mitigate hoaxes, he plans to implement the Anti-Terror Law. “I consider hoaxes to be acts of terror, as they are a threat to the people’s peace of mind. Therefore, we will categorize them as a threat of terror. We will mitigate this strictly, but based on the law,” Wiranto said after the Coordinating Meeting for the 2019 Election Guarding Readiness held at the Offices of the Ministry of Politics, Justice, and Security in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (20/3).

Before we really implement this policy, we need to ask Wiranto, “Are you really going to implement this?” Wiranto must really think twice, as once a law is enacted it must apply to all citizens – including all high officials, and even the head of the State and their supporters.

The Law has a universal principle: “equality before the Law”. The Law considers everyone to be the same before it – no exception allowed. This is why our symbol of Justice is taken from the Roman Goddess Justitia – a woman whose eyes are blindfolded, with a sword in her right hand and the scales of justice in her left hand. The law is black and white, it does not differentiate. Anyone who is found guilty after due balance will immediately be struck down. This is why our Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, once even made the seemingly cruel declaration that “If my daughter Fatima is proven to have stolen something, I will definitely cut off her hand!”

Are you ready to take that attitude, Sir? Are you ready to take the example of Goddess Justitia and strike down at someone with your eyes blindfolded? Are you ready to emulate the Prophet Muhammad, who would immediately cut off his beloved daughter’s hand if she is caught and proven to have stolen? That hoax is a serious issue, we really agree. We support you 1,000 percent. Don’t worry about that – the people will certainly be right behind you, Sir. That a hoax can destroy a nation, that is also very true. Even our religion teaches that too: people who lie are hypocrites, and slander is worse than murder.

Let’s imagine something. Who will get caught in the net if the Anti-Terror Law is implemented against hoaxers? Members and supporters of the opposition who likes to distribute hoaxes? Agreed, they must be eliminated. Those who take advantage of the conflict between Presidential Candidate Pair 01 and Presidential Candidate Pair 02 and attempt to divide the nation – they must also be sanctioned and punished. No selectiveness, no discrimination.

But what about the Government supporter who like to distribute hoaxes? Are they going to be punished or not? If not, Pak Wiranto would be hard put to implement the law strictly. Let’s take the example of Semarang Mayor Hendar Prihadi, who stated that the people on Presidential Candidate Pair 02’s side intend to establish a khilafa (Islamic government based on the caliph system) if they win. Or the kyai (Islamic scholar) from the Ulema’s Revival (Nahdlatul Ulama – “NU”) who made a fiery sermon and state that the tahlil (the repeated recitation of the tawheed sentence, “Laa ilaa ha Illallah” or “there is no God but Allah”) will be prohibited at the Palace if Jokowi should lose. All these are hoaxes, and even slanderous terrors that scare up the people, our voters.

Let’s discuss something heavier this time: Vice-Presidential Candidate Kyai Ma’ruf said that the Esemka would be produced and exported widely in November 2018, but there nothing about it until now. Is this a hoax or not?

Next, the heaviest issue: are Pak Jokowi’s unfulfilled promises considered to be hoaxes or not?

He promised that the economy will soar with a growth rate of above 7%. He promised to stop food imports, to buy back Indosat, to make Pertamina stronger than Petronas within 5 years, and so many other missed promises. There is a total of 66 promises not kept according to some, 100 to others. Are all of these hoaxes? What about the large amount of data liberally spouted out during the Vice-Presidential Candidate Debate, was that a hoax or not?

If all these are qualified as hoaxes, the accumulative punishment for them would be quite heavy indeed.

A gentle suggestion to Pak Wiranto: before implementing this Law, please reconsider. We don’t want you to be considered to be insubordinate against your boss. Remember, Sir, you have already called President Jokowi an impatient fool when he decided to give a conditional release to Ustadz Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. Pak Jokowi would naturally note, “How come one of my men dares to state that their superior is an impatient fool?” Please recall that this is also improper and may be defined as insubordination.

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