The Comical Blank (Ballot) Box
It is worth noting that since concurrent regional elections in 2015 through 2018, there have been dozens of sole candidate pairs. The only sole candidate pair that has been defeated was the one in Makassar mayoral election (Munafri Arifuddin-Andi Rahmatika Dewi).
A candidate for Makassar mayor, Munafri Arifuddin, covers the blank column on the ballot sample after voting ended at a polling station in Ujung Pandang district, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Wednesday (27/6/2018). The Makassar election saw only one pair, Munafri Arifuddin-Andi Rachmatika Dewi, backed by 10 political parties, including Golkar, NasDem, the United Development Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI P), the National Awakening Party (PKB), Hanura and Gerindra.
Inanimate objects cannot move themselves. Yet, sometimes they can be so powerful, defeating the explosive energy allegedly moved by the power holder. Indeed, they can ridicule the power holder that tries to crush them. That is the meaning of the blank ballot box that won the recent mayoral election in Makassar. The blank box did not mean nothing. In this context, the emptiness is not associated with being blank or zero but rather (suwung) vacant.
Literally, according to an Indonesian-language dictionary, the word means no permanent job or silent. But, the literal meaning could be misleading and not reveal the mystery in the victory of the blank box. It is worth noting that since concurrent regional elections in 2015 through 2018, there have been dozens of sole candidate pairs. The only sole candidate pair that has been defeated was the one in Makassar mayoral election (Munafri Arifuddin-Andi Rahmatika Dewi/Appi-Cicu).