The province of South West Papua will hold its first democratic celebration, namely a general election to elect a regional head who will lead the province for the next five years. The simultaneous general election in all regions in Indonesia which will take place in November will be the first time for several new provinces in the Republic of Indonesia, one of which is the province of South West Papua. The public’s enthusiasm is very high in welcoming the upcoming election. Moreover, when the campaign period has been officially opened by the General Election Commission, various campaigns will be carried out by the regional head candidates and their supporters. The Interfaith Harmony Forum in Sorong City, West Papua Province, is aware of the high enthusiasm of the public in supporting their chosen regional head candidates, so it is necessary to remind each other to maintain a peaceful atmosphere even during the campaign period.
The rapid flow of information, especially through technological developments and various social media used, certainly needs to make the public more careful and always try to check the information received whether it is true information or just a hoax. The Sorong City Government in South West Papua Province feels the need to hold a coordination meeting with various parties in order to design a strategy to maintain peace during the campaign period leading up to the general election. The coordination meeting was held on September 19 at the Sorong City Interfaith Harmony Forum Building. The coordination meeting was attended by the Sorong City Government, the Head of the Sorong City Ministry of Religious Affairs Office, and the management of the Sorong City Interfaith Harmony Forum.
The result of the coordination meeting held in an effort to formulate a strategy to maintain a peaceful general election in Sorong City was that all parties who attended agreed to maintain peace and invite more people by carrying out socialization about peaceful general elections. The Head of the Sorong City Ministry of Religious Affairs Office advised that in maintaining peace during the general election, there needs to be coordination and synergy with other parties such as security forces in this case the Indonesian National Army and the Indonesian National Police. Apart from the government, other parties who need to take a role are community organizations that include community leaders such as youth leaders, religious leaders, traditional leaders, and also women’s leaders.
The hope of the parties concerned in maintaining a peaceful general election is that the public will be wiser and smarter in responding to the information circulating. During the campaign period, there will certainly be competition in presenting work programs from regional head candidates and the public should focus on the plans offered by, so that they can choose objectively according to the needs of the public.
