YOGYAKARTA – Communication and counseling are two important points in development. However, both are not enough because community participation in development is much more important. This statement was made by the author of Komunikasi Pembangunan dan Dinamika Politik di Aras Lokal (Communication of Development and Political Dynamics in Local Level), Najib Husain, in his book discussion at Center for Rural and Regional Studies (PSPK), Thursday (14/7) afternoon.
Najib said that participatory development approach is emphasized to respect community and local cultural rights of local cultural values as part of communication concept of regional development. "Communication of development should not adopt Western theories. However, understanding communication of development can be done through the experience in the context of local culture," he said.
He explained that his book tells much about his research on the forms of development communication conducted in Southeast Sulawesi, including the role of communication in addressing social inequality, street children in Kendari, and the urgency of e-government in Kendari. It also discussed about the behavior of local political elites against the people’s political education in Kendari.
Chairman of General Election Commission of Southeast Sulawesi, Dr. Eka Suaib, M.Sc., who attended the book discussion, said that the model of participatory development at local level of Southeast Sulawesi faces constraints, especially the low political education and political communication conducted by local elites. "The greatest impact is the emergence of voters who are not rational, but based on money politics," he said.