Post-truth and Religious Sentiments that Change the Political Landscape and Its Outcome in 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election

Of the many direct regional head elections in Indonesia, the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election is one of the most interesting elections to observe. In this 'party of democracy', Jakarta citizens are split and polarized between rational voters and emotional / primordial voters. In the election, religious sentiments become one of the decisive factors for voters. Throughout the campaign period leading up to the election day, post-truth has also become a phenomenon found in this boisterous event. The phenomenon of post-truth, hoax, negative campaign-black campaign, and also religious sentiments are used in this paper to examine the paradox of democratization and the change of political landscape and the outcome as well.By taking the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Electionas a case study, this paper also intends to identify the level of rationality of Jakarta voters in determining the choice based on the study of a number of survey agencies. How can an electoral political anomaly occur in the final result of the election compared with the result of each candidates' electability? Various survey agencies mentioned that in the second round,the difference of electability between two candidates Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat (Ahok-Djarot) and Anies Rasyid Baswedan-Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (Anies-Sandi) would only range from 1-5 percent (1 digit). Meanwhile, based on the quick count results of a number of survey agencies as well as the real count of KPUD Jakarta (Regional Election Comission, Komisi PemilihanUmum Daerah), the difference between two pairs of candidate ranged in the number of 15 percent (2 digits), far exceeding the predictions of the survey agencies before the second round of the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Electionheld on April 19, 2017.