Beware of the Black Campaign Narrative of the Papua Governor Election: A Threat to Papua, the Church and God’s People
By Marinus Mesak Yaung, Pastor and Lecturer at Uncen Jayapura-Papua
Jayapura- Black campaign, or black campaign, is a practice that is strictly prohibited, both by the Indonesian Election Law and by the Bible as the Word of God. The Election Law clearly stipulates that election participants are prohibited from carrying out black campaigns, where violations can be subject to imprisonment for up to 2 years and a maximum fine of 24 million rupiah, in accordance with the provisions of Article 280 paragraph (1) letter C and Article 521 of the Election Law .
The Election Law defines a black campaign as an act of insulting, religious, ethnic, racial or class discrimination against candidates or other election participants. In the context of the Papua Governor Election, narratives such as “I am a child of the Tabi-Saereri tradition, I am a child of the Gospel, and I am Christian,” which are used to discredit other candidates, are clearly a form of election crime that damages democratic values.
It is time for the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) and the Papua Province General Election Commission (KPU) to take a firm stance to uphold law and justice during the election process. Verbal and written warnings must be immediately given to candidates involved in smear campaigns. If this warning is not heeded, the candidate must be subject to sanctions up to disqualification from the nomination process.
The Commissioners of Bawaslu and the KPU of Papua Province, which consist of Indonesian citizens, both from Papua and outside Papua, as well as those from various religions, including Islam and Christianity, must prove that they can be fair and firm referees in the midst of rivalry between two regional election candidates. Governor of Papua.
Apart from that, the involvement of Church figures in supporting this black campaign has further worsened the image of elections and democracy in Papua. Based on Biblical standards, Church figures should be fair and non-discriminatory towards both candidates. If Church figures and Christian activists support smear campaigns that use sectarian narratives such as “I am a child of the Tabi-Saereri tradition, you are not,” or “I am Christian, you are Muslim,” then this has the potential to divide society, destroying the community of God’s people and the Church. , as well as triggering political violence in the regional elections.
Support for black campaigns by Church figures will glorify the devil and make the Lord Jesus sad. Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind, not just the Tabi-Saereri people or Christians alone. If Papua is known as the land of the Gospel, then Church figures and Christians should support the teachings of the Lord Jesus’ Prayer, where we pray that God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven, including in the land of Papua.
There are only two choices for the Papuan people in the 2024 Governor’s Election: to bring hell or heaven to Papua. If we elect governors based on ethnicity, traditional territory or religion, then we are choosing to bring hell to Papua. However, if we want heaven to be present in the land of Papua, then we must choose based on ideas, ideas, career track records and real work of candidates, not based on sectarian politics which will damage the social cohesion of society and God’s people.
My prayer is that the 2024 Papua Governor Election will give birth to a leader who can bring heaven on earth to Papua, erasing the tears of poverty and suffering of the Papuan people.