Lahir dari Rakyat, Untuk Rakyat
Lahir dari Rakyat, Untuk Rakyat
Sudah hampir delapan puluh tahun kita merdeka, tapi urusan nasib kampung halaman orang di daerah masih saja harus menunggu restu dari orang-orang ber-AC di Jakarta. Mulai dari siapa yang pantas jadi bupati sampai urusan anggaran transfer daerah yang seenaknya dipotong, semuanya disetir dari pusat. Obrolan jujur para pengurus Partai Gema Bangsa di podcast kanal resmi partai membuka mata kita: kalau cara bernegara semacam ini terus dipelihara, jangan heran kalau orang daerah makin muak dan antipati pada partai politik.
Saat pemandu obrolan melempar pertanyaan satu kata untuk kondisi wilayah masing-masing, jawabannya langsung menohok: Kawan Mimin dari Kalimantan Selatan menjawab “kabut”, Kawan Selfie dari Kalimantan Barat menyebut “kebakaran”, Kawan Raja dari NTT menimpali “gempa”, dan Kawan Tanit dari Kalimantan Tengah menyahut “sama, kabut juga”. Daerah sedang menghadapi kenyataan hidup yang berat, tapi sistem politik nasional justru sibuk dengan permainan elite ibu kota yang serba sentralistik.
Raja, politisi senior asal NTT yang sudah puluhan tahun memimpin partai, bicara terus terang tanpa basa-basi. Menurutnya, tata kelola negara ini sudah lama tersesat dalam mempraktikkan otonomi daerah.
“Undang-undang sejak tahun 45 bunyinya jelas: daerah otonom diberi kewenangan mengatur rumah tangganya sendiri. Tapi praktiknya sampai sore hari ini, kepala daerahnya ditentukan dari Jakarta! Orang yang paham lapangan dan didukung rakyat lokal ditolak di pusat, lalu Jakarta kirim orang pilihannya sendiri. Begitu dilantik, kebijakannya tidak didukung rakyat, pembangunan macet, dan kemiskinan di daerah tidak pernah beres. Ini sistem keliru yang dipelihara puluhan tahun,” tegas Raja.
Itu sebabnya ia meninggalkan partai lamanya dan memilih berlabuh di Partai Gema Bangsa. Di sini, desentralisasi politik bukan sekadar jualan kata di atas panggung kampanye, tapi dikunci mati di dalam AD/ART partai.
Masyarakat sekarang sudah pintar. Mereka tidak gampang percaya dengan janji manis partai baru yang tiba-tiba mengaku peduli daerah. Tanit dan Mimin menegaskan bahwa komitmen Gema Bangsa bukan sekadar omongan di bibir.
“Kenapa kami berani bicara lantang sampai ke tokoh adat Dayak dan warga pelosok? Karena pegangan hukumnya jelas ada di AD/ART partai kita. AD/ART itu undang-undang partai yang wajib dijalankan, tidak bisa ditawar. Jadi bukan cuma omon-omon di luar. Di Gema Bangsa, pusat tidak boleh campur tangan urusan wilayah, dan wilayah tidak ikut campur urusan daerah,” ujar Tanit.
Aturan main ini penting supaya putra-putri terbaik daerah tidak lagi kalah saing dengan orang luar hanya gara-gara urusan uang mahar ke Jakarta. Wakil rakyat di daerah pun bisa berani bersuara dan mengawasi anggaran tanpa harus ketakutan di-PAW oleh ketua umum di ibu kota.
Kemandirian daerah juga menyangkut urusan perut dan masa depan anak-anak kita. Raja dan Tanit menyinggung tajam soal program Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) yang ramai diperdebatkan orang kota.
Bagi warga di pedalaman NTT atau pelosok Kalimantan, persoalan gizi ini adalah urusan hidup-mati kecerdasan generasi mendatang.
“Kita ini profesor banyak, doktor banyak, tapi apa yang kita bikin? Mobil dan motor di jalanan semuanya buatan luar negeri, kita cuma jadi pembeli. Kapan kita bisa bikin pesawat tempur atau teknologi sendiri kalau anak-anak kita di kampung dari kecil cuma makan seadanya? Asupan otak itu harus diisi dari masa kandungan, balita, sampai SD. Kalau kecerdasan anak rendah, Indonesia Emas 2045 itu bohong belaka,” kata Raja.
Tanit, yang turun langsung mengelola operasional dapur gizi di Kalimantan Tengah, menambahkan bahwa program ini sangat menolong ibu hamil dan anak-anak di posyandu pelosok.
“Kalau ada oknum yang korupsi, yang bikin dapur fiktif, atau menyajikan ikan basi demi cari untung, ya oknum itu yang disikat dan dipidanakan! Perbaiki sistemnya, benahi pengawasannya. Tapi jangan sampai program mencerdaskan anak-anak di daerah pelosok ini disetop gara-gara permainan segelintir orang,” tambah Tanit.
Melengkapi obrolan, Selfie selaku Sekretaris Wilayah Kalbar menegaskan pentingnya kader perempuan turun ke lapangan mengawal gizi dan kesejahteraan keluarga. Masalah stunting, sekolah anak yang ambruk, dan ekonomi rumah tangga di desa adalah urusan nyata yang dihadapi masyarakat setiap hari.
Kesimpulannya sangat gamblang: sudah saatnya Jakarta berhenti merasa paling tahu segalanya tentang daerah. Kembalikan hak masyarakat lokal untuk memilih pemimpinnya sendiri tanpa intervensi pusat. Jamin isi piring dan gizi anak-anak di pelosok agar otak mereka cerdas. Dari tanah daerah yang mandiri dan berdaulat itulah, Indonesia yang sesungguhnya baru bisa bangkit dan berdiri tegak.
Nearly eighty years after independence, the fate of people across our provinces is still being dictated by officials sitting in air-conditioned rooms in Jakarta. From deciding who runs for regent or mayor to arbitrary cuts in regional funding, everything remains controlled from the capital. The honest discussion among Partai Gema Bangsa regional leaders on the party’s official podcast makes one thing clear: if this country continues to be run this way, no one should be surprised when local communities completely lose faith in political parties.
When the podcast host asked each regional chair to describe their province in a single word, the responses were cutting: Comrade Mimin from South Kalimantan said “smog”, Comrade Selfie from West Kalimantan said “fires”, Comrade Raja from NTT replied “earthquake”, and Comrade Tanit from Central Kalimantan answered “smog as well”. The regions are dealing with harsh daily realities, while national politics stays trapped in Jakarta’s top-down power games.
Raja, a veteran politician from East Nusa Tenggara who has led parties for decades, spoke bluntly without diplomatic hesitation.
“Our laws have stated since 1945 that autonomous regions have the right to manage their own household affairs. Yet in practice, local leaders are still handpicked by Jakarta! Leaders who understand the land and have local support are rejected at the center, while Jakarta imposes its own picks. Once installed, their policies lack community backing, development stalls, and regional poverty remains untouched. This broken system has been dragged on for decades,” Raja insisted.
That failure prompted him to leave his former party and join Partai Gema Bangsa. Here, political decentralization is not just stage rhetoric for campaign season; it is locked firmly into the party’s constitution (AD/ART).
Voters today are smarter. They do not buy cheap promises from new parties pretending to care about the regions. Tanit and Mimin stressed that Gema Bangsa’s commitment is grounded in binding party law.
“Why can we speak with complete confidence to indigenous Dayak elders and village communities? Because our legal guarantee is written right in our AD/ART. That party constitution is legally binding; it cannot be compromised. In Gema Bangsa, the central board cannot interfere in regional leadership matters, and regional offices do not meddle in local affairs,” Tanit explained.
This rule ensures that the best local candidates are not pushed aside by outsiders simply because someone paid political dowries in Jakarta. Local parliament members can do their jobs inspecting budgets without the constant fear of being arbitrarily replaced by party elites in the capital.
Regional independence also touches what goes onto the plates of our children. Raja and Tanit spoke plainly about the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program that city commentators often argue over.
For families in rural NTT or remote Kalimantan, nutrition is a fundamental matter of basic brain development and physical growth.
“We have plenty of professors and doctorate holders, but what do we actually produce? The cars and motorbikes packing our roads are all made abroad; we just buy them. How can our children ever build advanced technology if they grow up malnourished in rural villages? Brain development must start in the womb, during infancy, and through grade school. Without genuine nutrition, talking about a Golden Indonesia in 2045 is just daydreaming,” said Raja.
Tanit, who directly manages community nutrition kitchen units in Central Kalimantan, added that the program has brought direct relief to pregnant mothers and young children at rural health clinics.
“If there are corrupt actors who build fake kitchens or serve spoiled food to pocket a profit, arrest them and throw the book at them! Fix the system and tighten the rules. But do not shut down a program that feeds and builds the intelligence of children across our provinces just because of a few bad actors,” Tanit added.
Closing the talk, Selfie as Regional Secretary of West Kalimantan emphasized that women leaders must stay on the front lines to defend family welfare. Malnutrition, crumbling village schools, and household food security are everyday struggles that mothers understand best.
The core message of the discussion is simple: it is time for Jakarta to stop pretending it knows what is best for people thousands of miles away. Give local communities the genuine right to choose their own leaders without central interference. Ensure every child in every remote village gets real food on their plate. Only when the regions are independent and self-reliant can this country truly stand on its own feet.