ADU GAGASAN CALON WALIKOTA KEDIRI 2024 (Studi perbandingan visi misi relokasi PKL di Jalan Brawijaya)

A Comparative Study of Mayoral Candidates' Visions and Missions on Street Vendor Relocation on Jalan Brawijaya in the 2024 Kediri Election

The 2024 Kediri Mayoral Election featured two candidate pairs, yet the relocation of street vendors (Pedagang Kaki Lima/PKL) on Jalan Brawijaya was never explicitly addressed in the public debates or the candidates' vision and mission statements, even though the urban planning policies they proposed had significant potential to affect the vendors' economic livelihoods. This study aims to identify and compare the visions and missions of the two candidate pairs regarding PKL relocation, to analyze the front stage and backstage dramaturgical practices constructed by both candidates, and to examine the relationship between their visions and missions, political dramaturgy, and the vendors' perceptions of both candidates. This research employs an exploratory qualitative approach involving ten PKL informants from Jalan Brawijaya, selected through purposive sampling until data saturation was reached. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, non-participatory observation, and documentation studies, and then analyzed thematically through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification, guided by Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory. The findings reveal that neither candidate pair openly raised the PKL issue on the front stage, while informal promises such as plans to relocate vendors to more suitable locations emerged on the back stage during field campaigning. The vendors perceived this gap firsthand, and it later escalated into post-election conflict. The vendors' voting preferences were shaped more by personal impressions of the candidates, particularly Vinanda Prameswati's track record as the former Chairperson of the Kediri PKL Association, than by any policy program directly targeting them. Of the ten informants, six chose the Vinanda-Qowimuddin pair, consistent with the actual election result in which the pair won with 56.83% of the vote. The study concludes that PKL voter preference contributed to the winning pair's victory as a supporting factor rather than a decisive one.