Legitimacy as the key to democratic politics

Two days ago, while heading to my friend's house in Kuta, Bali. I passed Jl. Legian and had a chance to look at Paddy's Pub, which was the site of a terrorist bombing in 2002. Now the condition is very good and crowded with visitors. Two months ago I went to Paddy's Pub just to enjoy a beer with my friend.

We can imagine that the events of 2002 were a dark time here. In the name of religion, terrorist groups kill other people. The bombers are willing to sacrifice themselves and their families due to brainwashing and the doctrine of heaven which is not necessarily true. The whole world is in shock due to the number of people who have died due to bomb attacks from terrorism.

Bomb attacks carried out by terrorist groups have not happened only once, but Indonesia has had enough of this kind of violence, starting from the Christmas Eve bombing in 2000, the first Bali bombing in 2002, the second Bali bombing in 2005, to the church bombing. in 2018. The terrorist group carried out violence arbitrarily without any legitimacy from the community.

On the other hand, when the police ambush an armed terrorist group, gunfire ensues between the police and the terrorists. Many people died as a result of gunfire between the police and terrorists. Police and terrorists both committed acts of violence and many people were killed. But the difference is, terrorists commit violence and murder without legitimacy. While the police do this with legitimate actions.

Legitimacy is the spirit of democracy, the basis of all policies of a democratic country like Indonesia. Legitimacy is an action that has the support of the wider community. Of course, this support is obtained from considerations that are in line with the Indonesian constitution and the sense of justice from the community.

Legitimacy can be obtained if the action is based on valid law. There may be different opinions about legal law, but I take the philosophy from Habermas about legal law is there a law that has been agreed upon equally and freely by many people. Therefore, Legitimacy must be approved by a process of deliberation. All data and points of view are put forward so that which one is the best will be fully legitimized. In other words, legitimacy is a policy that leads to the common good through the process of selecting a common point of view.

Back to the discussion of terrorism. In Indonesia, this is an act without legitimacy because it is not in line with valid law, nor is it considered by the public with common sense and a clear conscience. Acts of terrorism are only aimed at the interests of certain groups which are very dangerous for human civilization. The ideology of terrorism was created by intolerant people who should not be allowed to exist in a very democratic Indonesia. Every act of intolerance is never in line with a democratic society.

Legitimacy is formed from a continuous communication process. This communication must be carried out with truth and honesty to achieve mutual understanding between groups and communities. Everyone has the right to express their point of view openly and accompanied by equality and freedom of expression. In terms of expressing opinions, there are usually parties who have conflicting points of view. This difference in point of view often creates tension in communication. This is known as communication distortion.

When communication distortion occurs, people who express opinions must communicate intensely. Must be able to find new ways of communicating to be able to understand each other. Communication is the key to creating a peaceful democratic society. Therefore, communication should not just stop, because it will lead to war. This has often happened in human civilization. Fighting terrorism is not only at a physical level but also at a mental level. At the level of thinking to fight terrorism, it is necessary to communicate wisely with the whole community.