Islamic-Based Political Party Branding In The 2019 Of Legislative Election

Abstract

A trend to increase the vote acquisition of Islamic parties has occurred since the 2014 Election. Likewise, in the 2019 Election the Islamic parties namely the Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) and the Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) receive again significantly votes. The purpose of this study is to determine the branding strategy of PKS and PKB political parties in raising the votes of voters in the 2019 Legislative Election of Regency / City DPRDs in the election district of Kecamatan Kiaracondong City of Bandung. The research use qualitative with the case study method. Data collection techniques is carried out by observation, interview, and documentation. The results reveal that the branding strategy of PKS and PKB-based Islamic political parties in raising voters' votes in the 2019 Legislative Election is through a clear vision and mission, and the flagship program of Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) is to abolish motor taxes and impose a lifetime SIM. The community hopes that through the program can help ease the economic burden. Whereas Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) through the da'wah program strategy is through the Nahdlatul Ulama citizen movement. The increase in voters is also supported by the militancy of legislative candidate members or cadres from each party.

Keywords: Political branding, political program, political strategy

Introduction

The 2019 Legislative Election can be said to be the intention of the Indonesian people to elect the representatives of the people in the DPR, DPR. It has become an interesting phenomenon during the campaign period and the Islamic parties won favor among the people. One of them was during the Legislative Election, was less respected by the presidential election and it was so noisy at that time; there were 2 (two Islamic parties that experienced a trend of increasing the voters number, namely Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS), with a difference of 1.42% of the votes going up from the previous Election. This increase in Islamic party votes has occurred since the 2014 elections.

The increase in vote acquisition was truly unexpected, considering that initially PKS was predicted from various survey institutions in Indonesia, becoming one of the Islamic parties that would find it difficult to surpass parliamentary thresholds for the 2019 elections. The nationalist parties such as the PDIP and Gerindra parties have the effect of a tailcoat because of the nominated candidates to run in the Presidential Election. Similar conditions were also experienced by Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB). These two Islamic parties are dominated by the vote because they were influenced by the support of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), who also supported Vice-Presidential Candidate Ma'ruf Amin, who has known as a genuine NU figure.

Judging from the results of the 1999 Election, PKS (Islamic party) which is received only 1.36% votes, PKS gave a surprise in the 2004 Election of 7.34%, the 2009 Election of 7.88%, but in the 2014 Election PKS get decreased votes to 6.79%. On the contrary, PKB Islamic party is actually fluctuated its trend much better, namely in the 1999 Election received 12.62% of votes, the 2004 election fell to 10.57%, to reach the lowest point in the 2009 Election which was only 4.95% of the national vote. However, in the 2014 Election PKB actually got a vote that increased quite sharply by 9.04% of the votes and in the 2019 Elections got 9.69% of the votes. The two Islamic parties in the 2019 elections, PKS got a vote of 8.21% and PKB 9.69% of the national vote, a significant increasing.

The increase in Parliamentary Treshold (PT) to 4% of the national vote is a formidable challenge faced by Islamic political parties such as PKS and PKB. Such conditions encourage Islamic political parties to work harder in order to exceed the minimum PT limit. This is evidenced by the Islamic political parties PKS and PKB in the 2019 Election that succeeded in passing the minimum PT figure and gained higher votes compared to the previous Election. Of course, the vote is obtained by the PKS and PKB Islamic parties, at the Regency / City DPRD succeeded in increasing the party's vote and escaped to senayan. That is, Islamic-based political parties such as PKS and PKB still have an appeal for the Islamic community in Indonesia because of its clear programs.

The vote results from both the PKS and PKB Islamic parties raised questions about the PKS and PKB-based Islamic political branding strategies. Is the majority religious factor, figure factor or other related factors, such as the high level of piety from the community or even members of the organization that encourage voter decisions in the constituency area of the Kiaracondong District of Bandung City to vote in the 2019 Legislative Elections?

Problem Statement

The struggle of Islamic-based parties in fighting for community support is certainly not easy to do. These parties must face competition between Islamic parties and nationalist parties. In fact, even though the majority of voters in Indonesia are Muslim, significantly it is not directly proportional to the increase in votes from Islamic parties. On the contrary, nationalist parties and others parties considered secular actually experienced an increase and were relatively stable. This condition occurs due to the phenomenon of some nationalist political parties which try to accommodate the aspirations of Muslims by establishing Islamic wing organizations. That is, the phenomenon of Islamophobia is slowly backfiring for Islamic parties such as the PKS and PKB Islamic Party (Akmaliah, 2018).

Some of these challenges, making proof for the Islamic party to the community. This, it is the basis of the important problem, it is examined. The various issues that were labeled with the Islamic party certainly encouraged PKS party politicians and PKB to try as hard as possible to explain and convince their potential voters. Thus, the focus of this paper is on the branding strategies of PKS and PKB parties in increasing the number of voters in the 2019 Legislative Elections.

Research Questions

This research will focus on the branding strategy of Islamic-based political parties in raising voters' votes in the 2019 legislative elections. Islamic parties always experience votes that tend to decrease over time in each election contestation, but in the 2019 legislative elections is quite sharp increasing. Thus, the research question of the study:

(1) “What is the media communication strategy utilised by the Islamic parties to obtain votes in an election?”

Purpose of the Study

This study aims to find out the media communication strategies of parties labelled Islam in obtaining votes in the 2019 Legislative Elections. The PKS and PKB Islamic Party's communication strategies are correctly and accurately in the 2019 Legislative Elections, relying on figures and the real branding of community needs happening in the field.

Research Methods

In this study, based on qualitative research, Sugiyono (2012) in Susanti et al. (2015) the research method was a scientific way to obtain data with specific goals and usages. The research method was a step owned and carried out by researchers in order to collect information or data that had been obtained from the field (Pratama & Hidayat, 2020). Data collection methods used in this study include: the method of observation, interviews, and documentation.

The research method according to Sugiyono (2012) in Hasan (2015) was a scientific method used to obtain objective, reliable and valid data with the aim which it can be found, proven and developed a new knowledge, so that it could be used to understand, solve and anticipate problems in certain fields. According to Denzin and Lincoln (2009) in Anggito & Setiawan (2018) suggested that: qualitative research was research that was based on using a natural setting with the intention of interpreting phenomena that actually occur in the field and it was carried out by involving various existing methods.

The paradigm used in this study was the constructivist paradigm. The constructivist paradigm was a paradigm that departed from the anathesis of understanding which placed observations and objectivity in finding a reality or science (Hidayat et al., 2020). This paradigm viewed Social Science as a systematic analysis of socially meaningful action through direct and detailed observation of the relevant social actors creating and maintaining or managing their social world.

In this research, it also used case studies, on a qualitative approach where a researcher could explore or explore more deeply about real life. Limited systems (cases) or a variety of limited systems (various cases), through collecting more detailed and in-depth data so as to be able to involve multiple sources of information or multiple sources of information (eg observations, interviews, audio-visual material, documents and various reports), and report a case description and case theme (Creswell, 2013). Qualitative case studies could be compiled to illustrate unique cases, cases that had an unusual interest in themselves and need to be described or detailed (Creswell, 2013).

Findings

Increasing the vote acquisition of Islamic political parties, namely Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) and Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) in the 2019 Legislative Election contestation, are an excellent achievement. The success of the two Islamic parties is certainly not only a coincidence, but there are certain strategies that have been prepared systematically and thoroughly through a campaign program provided by the two Islamic parties PKS and PKB. Of course, it is also inseparable from the support of people who are increasingly specialized and real. The success of the PKS and PKB Islamic parties in exceeding the national parliamentary threshold is also inseparable from the success of the political strategy provided by the Islamic political party itself, which starts from the presence of a political communicator (legislative member), voters, campaign programs, and supporting success the other.

The 2019 legislative elections are arguably one of the success steps achieved by both the PKS and PKB Islamic parties in representing other Islamic parties. Where these two parties, have succeeded in exceeding the parliamentary threshold and passed into the Senayan, it is automatically also passed the regional parliament, with very encouraging acquisition rates, compared to other Islamic parties. Although there are many survey institutions in Indonesia, which predicts that the PKS and PKB Islamic parties will find it difficult to enter the parliamentary threshold of 4% of the national vote. The vote acquisition, raises many questions about the strategy provided by the PKS and PKB Islamic parties in dealing with the 2019 legislative election contestation. The increase in PKS and PKB votes, it certainly cannot be separated from the campaign programs provided by each party. The strategies of each political party have a variety of strategies whose main purpose to get sympathy or attention from the public, which in turn can choose the party.

Political parties with smart strategies, it means that they can attract the attention of many masses, then they will become political parties that can win the competition by getting a place in the hearts of the people, which in turn gets as many votes as possible. The victory of the PKS and PKB Islamic parties in exceeding the parliamentary threshold is closely related to the strategy implemented and implemented. Besides that, there are also some assumptions behind the victory of the PKS, such as external and internal attacks and the spread of negative issues over him, which makes the PKS party succeed in showing its fangs in the 2019 election contestation. Each legislative candidate has its own capable political communication strategy to achieve a political victory. Based on the results of interviews with all research informants, both from PKS Islamic party voters and PKB Islamic parties, the researchers found a strategy which is resulted in an increase in the number of voters from the two Islamic parties. From the interviews of all PKS Islamic party voter informants who were interviewed by researchers, they gave a statement that the increase in the number of voters, due to the campaign program provided by PKS, was very capable such as: Excellent programs, Militancy of PKS cadres, opposition parties and the many spreads mass node in those areas.

The increasing trend of votes obtained from the two Islamic parties can not be separated from the superior programs provided by the PKS party, such as a lifetime SIM program and the elimination of motor tax. One of these PKS strategies, has taken a lot of attention from all Indonesian people, especially the Kiaracondong community; this has generated a lot of opinions from the upper-middle and lower-middle class. Surely, many people are pros and cons of the strategy provided by the PKS Islamic party. According to the analysis of researchers after conducting interviews with PKS informants and the results of the researchers' personal experience obtained in the field, it is found that it is not a few agreed / pro to the PKS strategy. That is, if the elimination of motorcycle tax can streamline the financial status of the middle-lower class, because the Indonesian state is a consumer country, then the income obtained is not only from motorcycle tax. In contrast, with people who are against the elimination of motor tax, which results in reduced state revenues. In terms of the increase in the superior program given, it could not be separated from the militancy of PKS cadres who managed to position themselves as good political communicators.

The PKS decided to get in the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin government for the next 5 (five) years and it would continue to take its role as the Opposition party. PKS maintains its base as an opposition party, increasingly making the considerations of many masses until in the end; the people who really want to Islamic law are upheld, especially for the Kiaracondong people, make their choice on the Islamic party PKS, which is one of the parties that consistently strives for the interests of Muslims and Ulama. It catapulted the PKS vote, consistently to the interests of Muslims, in accordance with the background of the party based on Islam. The PKS is spreading mass strategy is intentionally strengthening the role of cadres and mass nodes in order to achieve the largest target in each electoral area, especially in the Kiaracondong area, Bandung, West Java.

Likewise with the PKB Islamic party in formulating a political strategy to win as many voters as possible has been done by reflecting on the 2009 election contestation, which is it participated in, where the internal turmoil within the body of the PKB was so complicated. The PKB party's internal conflict resolution in the face of the 2019 Election contest was quickly carried out by the PKB General Chairman, Muhaimin Iskandar. The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) are also still recognized as PKB's main strongholds. Of course, with the swift re-gathering of the NU extended family, as one of the political strategies carried out by PKB in winning votes in the 2019 Election contestation, so that the image as a party owned by Nahdlatul Ulama citizens continues to be maintained by the PKB Islamic party to this day.

PKB was born from the womb of NU, it has automatically a very close relationship with NU and the two cannot be separated. The social base of the NU organization itself is the pesantren. It makes PKB inseparable from the base owned by the NU residents. In pesantren, as the main base of NU which has a central figure namely Kyai. The presence of this kyai can be accepted by anyone without giving any criticism to the teachings, actions and behavior of the kyai concerned. The position of these clerics, is considered to have its own authority which ultimately raises the charismatic figure that is not owned by other political party figures. The existence of the clerics, makes students and ordinary people must obey and respect. The presence of these clerics, carried out by PKB Islamic parties in the campaign program, showed an increase in vote acquisition in the 2019 Election contestation. Including, KH figures. Ma'ruf Amin is also a kyai, where he also has an NU background.

Other strategies are carried out by PKB, namely by door to door or a direct movement to meet the city community to the people who live in rural areas. This was done in the hope that it could streamline the campaign program of the PKB Islamic party in building electability from political parties and legislative candidates being promoted. This strategy was specifically carried out by PKB to win a large number of votes from the community. The PKB party is said to be in the 2019 election campaign strategy, not using identity politics to gain a lot of votes from voters. Identity politics itself is a political tool that aims to get support from people who feel "the same" in race, ethnicity, ethnicity or religion.

Conclusion

The increasing trend of votes gained by PKS and PKB Islamic political parties cannot be separated from the militancy of the cadres of the two parties. An increasing trend has occurred in the 2014 elections, and it increased again in the 2019 elections. For the campaign program provided by the PKS Islamic party in the 2019 Legislative Elections, the PKS party gained a lot of votes from the Kiaracondong community. Although there are many pros and cons of Indonesian society. Likewise for the Kiaracondong people who are more pro to the campaign programs provided by the PKS Islamic party in the hope of streamlining their finances. Not only that, PKS has also known as a party whose orientation is more towards the interests of Muslims. The opposition party, the PKS maintains its basis as an opposition party, increasingly made the considerations of many masses until in the end, the people who wanted the Islamic Sharia upright dropped their choice on the PKS Islamic party. Meanwhile, the PKB Islamic Party campaign program provided from the 2019 election, by utilizing the role of the kyai, which was more optimized by making a more efficient approach to Islamic organizations as the breadbasket. Forming sufficiently credible cadres and legislative candidates needed by the community, PKB also relied on strength by approaching the NU.

The supporting factor for the increase in voters' votes from the PKS Islamic party is caused by the most consistent as an opposition party and prioritizes the interests of Muslims. Other supporting factors are none other than candidates who can be trusted by the Kiaracondong community. The figure of Prabowo Subianto, was also a factor supporting the increase in votes for the PKS party, seeing his assertive character and a former military man. As for economic factors, where the Kiaracondong people want economic changes. Meanwhile, the PKB Islamic party supporting the increase in votes can be concluded that there is a majority of Muslims, a figure factor, a party that is tolerant of other religions, idolizes the figure of the founder of the PKB party of the late Gusdur (Abdurahman Wahid), figures of the PKB leadership, a universal party in the sense of a general party which is loved by most of the majority Muslims, a pluralist society, millennial youth and most importantly the solidity of the Nahdlatul Ulama.

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