The discourse of a general chairperson of an Islamic political party who wishes to return to the axis of the Islamic party as at the beginning of reform (central axis) has made Muslims both hope and doubt. The idea of "New Axis Tengah" can be said to come in the midst of feelings of oppression and oppression experienced by some Muslims in the political field with one of the strongest indicators, namely the detention of Habib Rizieq and the shooting incident of KM 50.
On the one hand, some Muslims need an oasis of canalization of political power that can provide a sense of justice for actions that are perceived as the tyranny of the current regime. The intriguing question arises, is the idea of an Islamic party axis a genuine intention to protect the interests of Muslims who have felt wronged or just an electoral "gimmick" for the political competition in 2024?
Some Muslims feel that they are only driving the "strike car" where the mobilization of voters with the Muslim segment is only a "five-year" event for brief electoral interests. The functions of political parties as a means of recruitment, socialization, aggregation, and articulation are hardly heard after the General Election is over. Political parties and the people seem to run in opposing poles, the massive street actions of some Muslim groups are evidence that political parties are less responsive to the voice of the people, especially Muslims as the majority population in this country.
The indicator is now clearly seen from the regulatory products that are not sensitive to the interests of the people, the last fact is the Presidential Decree on the investment of alcoholic drinks which has drawn strong protests from all Islamic organizations, which in fact is a derivative of the Omnibus Law which has been widely protested by the public which was passed by the Parliament itself ( political party power).
Reflecting on the previous events, there is a kind of trauma from the Muslim community towards any efforts on behalf of Muslims, especially if the initiators did not get the trust of the people themselves. The political power of Muslims is felt to be almost paralyzed in the current parliament, there is no need to talk about the interests of the people, the interests of the people, which are very precarious, often fail to be voiced such as overloaded rice imports, the corruption that occurred in Jiwasraya, Asabri, Jamsostek, accountability for events. KM 50 and so on.
The paralysis of political parties including Islamic parties today in criticizing the life of the nation and state makes it a little doubtful to believe that the idea of "New Axis Middle" is a genuine intention to protect the interests of Muslims, which today are felt to be not getting a good response from the Party. The existing politics are mainly Islamic political parties. Maybe for some Muslims, the talk of "New Axis Tengah" is like a luxury item that is not needed at this time because the urgency at this time is how protection against injustice felt by some Muslims can be realized. To ensure that the intention of “New Axis Tengah” is genuine, some initial indicators are needed as a prerequisite.
First, the shooting incident of the FPI Laskar at KM 50 made some Muslims unable to accept the explanation by the state apparatus and the National Commission on Human Rights, the lives of six humans had to be lost just for a stalking incident which should not have been necessary. The long-running police in determining the status of a suspect made this incident a big mystery, including the dismantling of the KM 50 rest area which was suddenly carried out after the incident.
Islamic political parties should be the most vocal to voice the resolution of this case, the arrival of TP3 to the PKS, PAN, and PPP factions must be the initial capital to show this concern. Making inquiry rights can be started through the coordination of the three Islamic party factions. If this is done and can open the mystery of the KM 50 incident in a real form, then the people's trust in the intention of "New Axis Tengah" may be obtained.
Second, there are several bills that need to be "ganged up" together by Islamic parties in parliament related to the interests of Muslims, such as the Bill on Elimination of Sexual Violence which is full of liberal feminism, the Bill on Family Resilience which is good enough to protect families from the penetration of irregularities such as LGBT and Free Sex, the Halal Product Guarantee Bill that needs to be watched out for because it will make it easier in the name of economic productivity and the entry of imported products, the Alcoholic Beverages Bill which has been protracted has not been resolved due to battles with business interests and the tourism industry, the Ulema Protection Bill which serves as the legal umbrella so that the criminalization of ulama both physically and psychologically can be eliminated and finally the desire to revive the Pancasila Ideology Policy Bill even though it only changed its name to the BPIP Bill.
If the Islamic Parties are able to complete the bill mentioned above, the intention of "New Axis Tengah" will have a tangible result indicator because automatically if the bill related to the protection of the Ummah can be completed and have a good impact on the interests of Muslims, the intention is to "New Axis Tengah" it certainly has a place in the hearts of Muslims.
Third, Muslims have always had to accept presidential candidates who are being predicted by non-Islamic parties with the lure of a vice president and several ministerial seats, but in fact, when this happens, the role of Islamic political parties does not have a strong influence on the state or executive policies. It seems that many officials who are extensions of Islamic Political Parties do not have principles that must be fought for on behalf of their Muslim constituents. Often Islamic political parties are only a stamp of policy legitimacy and are powerless to criticize them.
Therefore, Islamic political parties must have the courage to nominate a single presidential candidate from the possibility of the formation of the "New Axis Tengah", although statistically, the quantity of votes for the support of their party bases is not as much as the non-Islamic parties, nominations for presidential candidates are usually not equivalent to party-based votes. This means that if the "New Axis Center" coalition can later seek presidential candidates from a public background and have sufficient capital (Popularity, Acceptability, Electability, and Funding) to win, the majority of the people will ultimately vote. Therefore, the dynamics of seeking a single presidential candidate from an Islamic political party is a challenge in itself, because this attempt has been done before but has always failed due to various factors.
Of course, the three points above are only part of the indicators that must be done first by the initiators of the "New Axis Tengah", there are still many other indicators that need to be done to gain the trust of Muslims such as efforts to free Habib Rizieq, friendship to Muslim groups with an agenda. and clear programs (not just imagery), address issues of Islamophobia and radical accusations against Muslims as well as other concrete actions that can demonstrate the originality of this "New Central Axis" intention.
What we also need to understand is that the desire to unite at the political level must also be followed by the desire to unite at the level of civil society, because the political base focuses more on elitist issues and power while the basis of civil society is how to change the mental and culture of Muslims who It has been "impoverished" for a long time, both in terms of economy and science/education.
Coaching at the civil society level has been carried out voluntarily and cooperatively by Islamic mass organizations without significant support from Islamic political parties, both material and policy advocacy in the form of laws/regulations that benefit the work of Islamic mass organizations. In fact, Islamic parties often only benefit from the work of civil society development carried out by Islamic mass organizations.
Therefore, the intention of "New Axis Tengah" must also coordinate and synchronize with actors in the field, in this case, Islamic mass organizations. It is necessary to find common ground and division of tasks on how to collaborate between the political and civil society levels so that the "New Central Axis" becomes a reality. Allah knows best in Bishawwab.
