[Unpad.ac.id, 5/09/2016] Mayor of Bogor, Dr. Bima Arya Sugiarto gave public lecture to students of Political Science of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Padjadjaran, in Bale Rumawat Unpad, Jln. Dipati Ukur No. 35 Bandung, Monday (5/09). On the occasion, Bima presented materials on Political Leadership: Between Ideological and Populism.
According to Bima, to lead is to maintain balance. A leader should be able to maintain balance in various ways, mainly related to control leader’s idea to reach the community well.
“It is not an easy to lead through the slippery path when you become a leader, since you need to rigorously maintain balance,” said Bima.
To maintain the balance of public opinion, for example, requires all Heads of sub-district and village chief in the city of Bogor to have the accounts in social media. He has a “digital spokesman” who would help him in communicating their ideas.
Bima argues that the main challenge of a leader is in addition to ground the ideology is to also be able to convey their ideas well and raise no distortion.
“Aside from grounding ideology, we need to communicate our ideas all the way through and without distortion,” said Bima.
In relation with ideology, Bima admitted that it is necessary to have a leader who keeps his/her ideology. According to Bima, ideology is the identity of a person. If someone possesses clear ideology, then it would be evident in one’s attitude. A person who has no ideology will be tottering, including during policy making as leader.
He also criticized politicians who have no ideology. In addition due to ignorance too many of them are struggling simply because material interests.
“If you are in the politics to make a difference, you need to have ideological basis,” Bima said.
For Bima, assessing the ideology of a leader should not be done through his/her rhetoric or words they conveyed. The ideology of the leader can be view through their budget for the region.
“To assess the ideology of a mayor, dissect the proposed budget. Observe his/her commitment in the planned budget,” he said.
Reported by Artanti Hendriyana / eh
