Cross-Cutting Affiliation in Regional Election in Indonesia

This paper aims to reveal how the political background colors the political communication process in winning Abu (Muhammadiyah) and Lilik (Muslimat Nahdatul Ulama) in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. This research uses qualitative research methods with instrumental case study approach, and we use data collection techniques in the form of in-depth interviews and documentation. The results show that the different political backgrounds of the candidates actually create cross-cutting affiliations between Muhammadiyah and NU Muslim society in Kediri City to provide support for Abu and Lilik in the Kediri City regional election. This cross-cutting affiliation is not created naturally, but is determined by ‘ Wong Tebangan ’ as King Maker. Political lobbying by a ‘Gus’ attracted support from several NU kyai in Kediri City. Then, holding regular NU Muslimat recitations and stall forums became a means of maintaining the integrity of support for attacks from other candidates. Finally, the research also revealed how Javanese beliefs, modern political instruments, and religion are used in winning elections.


INTRODUCTION
candidate's political background from sociodemographics, competence, experience, issues, and party

METHODS
This study uses a constructivist paradigm as a world view of the phenomenon of Abu and Lilik's winning in the 2018 regional elections in Kediri City. The paradigm is used especially in viewing the political communication process, which is colored by differences in the political background of Abu (Muhammadiyah and PAN -a Political Party bases on Muhammadiyah members) and Lilik (Nahdatul Ulama). The constructivist paradigm is helpful for us as a worldview to build in-depth knowledge based on the natural setting of the phenomenon under study (Neuman & Robson, 2018). Then, this study uses a qualitative approach, as meant by Neuman & Robson (2018). A qualitative approach will produce data in the form of a thick description of the phenomenon under study based on its natural setting, namely the political background colored the political communication process in the victory of Abu and Lilik in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City.
The researchers employ an instrumental case study method to answer the formulation of the research problem, namely how the political background colors the political communication process in winning the Abu-Lilik pair in the 2018 Kediri City Election. As Neuman & Robson (2018) say, the case study is a research method that places the research problem as a 'case', an event in a system bound by a certain space and time. According to Mills et al. (2010), the instrumental case study method is used to describe cases that are partial in a comprehensive manner, cases that are partial means that these cases do not only occur in one place. The case in this study is the victory of the Abu-Lilik pair in the 2018 Kediri City Election, which cannot be separated from their political backgrounds from the Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama organizations.
This study's data collection techniques include in-depth interviews and documentation. In-depth interviews were conducted with Lilik (Vice Mayor), AN (Political Consultant), Qowimmudin Thoha (Head of the Success Team), and ZA (Member of the Success Team). The interview mechanism is carried out by preparing an interview guide in advance and developing it according to the answers from the informants. Then, documentation is used to obtain documents that can explain research problems. The documents were collected from the succeeding team and documents from political consultants that contain the communication process of Abu and Lilik in the 2018 Kediri City Election. The data that has been collected will be analyzed using a proprietary interactive analysis technique Miles, Huberman, & Saldana (2014), which includes the stages of data condensation, data presentation, and verification/conclusion. Then, the data validity technique in this study will use triangulation of data sources so that qualitative-based data can be accounted for their credibility.

Cross-Cutting Afilliation' Muhammadiyah-Nahdatul Ulama' as a Political Identity
The background of Abu from the Muhammadiyah (Islamic Community Organisation) and Lilik from the Nahdatul Ulama (NU -another Islamic Community Organisation) potentially became a political identity for the pair in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. Political identity is conceptually different from identity politics. Hill & Wilson (2003) and Meléndez & Kaltwasser (2019) explain that political identity is a subject construction (politician) that determines a position in a political community. Meanwhile, identity politics is an identity organizer to make a difference, namely between who is accepted as his group and who is rejected because he is not his group. According to Qowimmudin Thoha (Qowim), the Leader of the Success Team from Abu and Lilik, his team carefully prevents employing identity politics. Using identity politics could potentially break the harmony of the people of Kediri City (Personal interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019). Some literature does mention that the consequence of identity politics is polarization in society (Afrimadona, 2021;Sahabi & Nacho, 2020;Ubaid & Subandi, 2017), and the success of this team is shown by the short duration of the emergence of identity politics issues during the regional election.
Furthermore, Qowim explained that Lilik's political identity as the Chair of NU Muslimat could not be denied her high electability to accompany Abu in the Kediri City Election. Most NU Muslimat members in Kediri are impossible not to vote for Lilik. Qowim wisely emphasized the NU Muslimat Members' belief in Lilik as their religious mother. It is impossible for them to vote for others (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019).
According to AZ, Lilik's background, the Head of NU Muslimat in Kediri City is the most dominant political capital. This capital is due to the splitting of the votes of the Nahdliyin (NU cultural community) members because other candidates received support from the NU organizational structure of Kediri City. In fact, Aizzudin Abdurahman-Sujono was promoted by the PKB Party, Golkar Party, and Gerindra Party. The other pair, Samsul Ashar-Juniadi, was supported by the PDI-P and the Hanura Party. However, Lilik's positioning as chairman of the Kediri City NU Muslimat remains the dominant political identity as political capital in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City (Interview AZ, June 14, 2022).
Meanwhile, Abu's political identity as a candidate from the Muhammadiyah organization is not very prominent compared to his deputy from NU. According to AN, as a political consultant for Abu and Lilik, Abu's political identity from the Muhammadiyah does not need to be highlighted in the political campaign process because it does not significantly influence his electability and the people of Kediri City. The latter are labeled Muhammadiyah as not the majority. Therefore, the political identity highlighted by Abu is more of a millennial leader and is close to the community. The following is an excerpt from an interview with a political consultant AN: " […] Mas Abu iyaa dari Muhammadiyah, tapi tidak terlalu signifikan, kalah besar dengan NU kalau di Kediri. Kita tonjolkan Mas Abu itu pemimpin yang mewakili millennials, karena ini perlu disentuh eee istilahnya diakomodir, dan Mas Abu punya dasar untuk itu […] (Mas Abu is from Muhammadiyah that is not a big organization as NU. We will place Mas Abu as a representation of millennial generation. Mas Abu will be able to handle that) " (Wawancara dengan AN, 9 Desember 2019).
However, it is undeniable that Abu's political identity from the Muhammadiyah also became the political capital in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. AN also explained that Abu's background in Muhammadiyah indirectly contributed to his election as mayor because of his closeness to one of the Muhammadiyah elites in Indonesia. Therefore, the city of Kediri earned him support (Interview with AN, December 09, 2019). The Chairman of the Success Team, Qowimmudin Thoha, also explained that Abu's closeness to the elite of the Muhammadiyah made him get supporters from the Muhammadiyah community of Kediri City. This support happened because the dogmatic of Kyai in the Muhammadiyah Ormas was still quite strong. Here is an excerpt from the interview: "[... "] The existence of an elite on one side of the Abu and Lilik makes Muhammadiyah support can be said to flow to the pair, considering that in the Muhammadiyah organization itself, as has been said before, it tends to be dogmatic following the thinking of the ruling and influential elite in Muhammadiyah" (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019).
The quote above also clearly shows that Abu's political identity from the Muhammadiyah and PAN (A political party based on Muhammadiyah members) is a political capital to gain votes from the people of Kediri City, especially those who are culturally bound to Muhammadiyah. Meanwhile, according to Qowimmudin Thoha, Lilik's identity, which is closely related to Nahdatul Ulama and the caretaker of the Islamic boarding school, must indirectly influence her level of electability. It is like "Mbakyu "(Lilik) must have heard of it, so Muslimat members will go to this pair (Lilik must be). Listen to Nahdatul Ulama Muslimat so that Muslimat will choose Abu and Lilik as partner)" (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019). This finding shows that the differences in the political identity attached to the pair of Abu and Lilik have become their political capital for the pair.
Findings regarding the differences in the identities of Abu and Lilik, which became political capital in the 2018 Kediri City Elections, were a form of cross-cutting affiliation from two different political communities, namely the Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama communities, which integrated to elect Abu and the Lilik pair. The form of cross-cutting affiliation in other regional elections was also found in research by Zakina (2016) in the 2007 Kalimantan Local Election. There was a cross-cutting affiliation between religious communities (Protestant-Catholic) and indigenous peoples (Dayak) to elect the Cornelis-Christianity pair as Governor of West Kalimantan.
The cross-cutting affiliation in Abu and Lilik'sLilik'sy was the integration of two community organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul UIama, to choose a candidate for mayor and deputy mayor, namely Abu and Lilik, in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. The cross-cutting affiliation found in this study is a finding of its authenticity because, in some cases, the political attitudes of Nahdatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah are opposite in political contestation (Al-Ansi et al., 2019;Ishomuddin, 2014). The findings of this study, at the same time, show that differences in the political identity of a political actor are not an obstacle in political contestation but can instead become political capital if appropriately managed.
The cross-cutting affiliation in the 2013 and 2018 regional elections in Kediri City did not occur naturally. This affiliation only happened based on a political setting initiated by a third party. According to AZ, a member of the Success Team and a relative of Lilik, this cross-cutting affiliation has occurred since the first period, namely the 2013 Kediri City Election. AZ explained that this third party does not have a direct affiliation with political organizations (political parties, community organizations, pressure organizations et al., see elements of political communication (McNair, 2011) but has closeness to the grassroots level of society in Kediri (AZ Interview on June 14, 2022).
The findings above show that the concept of elements of political communication belonging to McNair (2011) cannot be represented or implemented at the local election in Indonesia because the position of third parties that regulate cross-cutting affiliation as a form of political communication cannot be identified or classified into elements of political communication offered by McNair (2011). The research also found that the third party significantly played a King Maker in cross-cutting affiliation from different political backgrounds, The Muhammadiyah, PAN, and the Muslimat Nahdatul Ulama. The King Maker's role is played by an ordinary person who is not affiliated with a political party, is unwell educated, is an unskilled worker, and is not a formal leader. However, he has good communication skills and relationships with most people. From a socio-ethnic perspective, we call this Wong Tebangan.
Our research also finds a distinctively eastern perspective that combines rationale, Javanese philosophy, and Islamic philosophy in cross-cutting affiliation examples. Rationally, the electability of Abu from Muhammadiyah and the strong electability of Lilik from the NU Muslimat residents of Kediri City would help the victory. The Javanese philosophy means reading natural cues, which are discussed as 'pulung' victory for Lilik. Meanwhile, Islamic philosophy can be seen by the prayers for guidance (through the Istikharah prayer) regarding the decision to unite Abu and Lilik in the 2013 and 2018 regional elections in Kediri City.

Political Lobbying to Kyai
Kediri is one of the cities in East Java with a high community base of "santri" (Islamic boarding school students). This label is shown by the ratio of the number of students of 6.76% compared to the population in the City of Kediri so that the City of Kediri is often dubbed the City of Santri (Kediri City Government, 2021). In political contestations, the Pondok Pesantren (boarding schools) do not go unnoticed by political actors who will participate in political contestation (Mujib, 2020;Priambodo, 2019). However, this does not rule out the potential of Islamic Boarding Schools in Kediri City to gain political support.
Lilik's former experiences as a boarding school administrator (Al-Ishlah Bandarkidul, City of Kediri) and Chairman of the Muslimat of Kediri City have indirectly had an impact by getting support from "santri" and female students in Kediri City. According to AN, the selection of Lilik as a candidate for the deputy mayor for Abu is the right strategy to get the votes of Muslimat members and students at the Kediri City Islamic Boarding School. It was because Abu did not yet have high electability in Islamic boarding schools, especially those based on the Nahdatul Ulama culture. The following is an excerpt from an interview with political consultant AN from Abu and Lilik: " [...] "here is no doubt that Ning Lik (Lilik ) is not trivial, starting from Ning Lik is a Muslimat figure, which we know kediri city is mostly women and muslimat organizations are very large in Kediri City" (Interview with AN, December 09, 2019).
Despite a background (political identity), Lilik had an impact with the support of Muslimat Nahdatul Ulama and Santri Pondok Pesantren. However, political strengthening by establishing relations with the Kyai Pondok Pesantren in Kediri City is still carried out, especially by Abu as a candidate for mayor in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Election. Abu did "Sowan" to the Kyai of Islamic Boarding Schools in Kediri City, especially those with Nahdatul Ulama culture. "Sowan" was carried out to establish ukhwuah as well as to ask for the blessing of the Kyai for him to contest the 2018 Kediri City Regional Elections. Qawwimuddin Toha revealed this tradition as the Head of the Winning Team for the Abu and Lilik, along with excerpts from the interview: "Mas Abu sowan to Pesantren, yaa weave the first ukhwah. Also definitely asking for blessings to advance in Pilwali. Although, in essence, we ask for blessings, NU also has a national political stance based on the NU khittah. So I do for it, apart from the fact that Mbakyu is no longer accompanied by Mas Ad (Lilik'sLilik's) [...]" (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019).
Abu's activity of "sowan" to charismatic Islamic scholars of Islamic traditional boarding schools in Kediri is part of political lobbying. According to Christiansen (2020), simply lobbying is a political strategy carried out through communication activities to negotiate political interests. Meanwhile, Ardianto et al. (2020) explained that political lobbying is carried out to convey political interests while getting political support for political policies/decisions to be taken. In line with this explanation, the "sowan" that Abu did to the Kyai Pondok Pesantren was to get blessings/permits (support) in the political contestation of the 2018 regional election in Kediri City.
The "sowan" activity to the Kyai was not thoroughly carried out by Abu but was assisted by the Head of the Winning Team, namely Qowimmudin Thoha. According to Qowimmudin Thoha, the "sowan" to the Kyai was a sequence of the "sowan" "carried out by Abu because his campaign agenda demanded that the mayoral candidate carry out another agenda. Here is an excerpt from the interview: "[...] but he was not capable of his energy, not strong. only 2 if not 3 times. "wes gus, lak ngene carane kulo mboten kuat gus" (Gus, if the situasion is like this, I'm not strong enough Gus"), "la pripun terserah njenengan, bagaimana kalau tetap kita jalankan tapi saya yang melakukan", "nggeh mpun malah tepak gus, tepak niku", lalu kita jalan […] (if Mas Abu trust me, please let me do it) " (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019).
Political Lobbying, which Qowimmudin Thoha continued, was also inseparable from his background as the administrator of the Islamic Boarding School (Al-Ishlah) and himself, who had known the Kyai of the Islamic Boarding School in Kediri City. In addition, Political lobbying, which is realized through "sowan" to the Kyai is the idea of Qowimmudin Thoha, where he does have an affinity with the Kyai Pondok Pesantren, who have political attitudes. This finding further emphasizes that Kyai at Pondok Pesantren has indeed become an element in politics in Indonesia, so its role cannot be ruled out casually, especially in shaping the opinions of its students.
The culture of "sowan" to the Kyai in traditional Islamic boarding schools (As Abu and Qowimmudin Thoha did) in politics in Indonesia is not new, as (Zuliansyah et al. (2017) dan Mujib (2020) explain that "sowan" Kyai culture is carried out by politicians in Indonesia to get blessings and support. Even Mujib (2020) explaining the culture of "sowan" is intended to ask for particular "diplomacy or prayers to be recited by politicians so that it is facilitated and gains victory in political contestation as this was done by Abu and Lillik, who carried out political lobbying through the "sowan" Kyai in Kediri City.
The findings of Political Lobbying through the "sowan" of Kyaii Pondok Pesantren conducted by Abu and Lillik show the typical behavior of political communication from non-western political actors who are closely related to cultural and theological dimensions (Inoguchi, 2015). Then, kyai's culture became part of Islamic political communication, inherent in Indonesia's political system dynamics, including in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Election. The relationship between political lobbying realized through the "sowan" of Kyai by Abu and Lilik is inseparable from the characteristics of the political audience of Kediri City, where the political audience of the student group has the dogmatic to follow the decisions of his Kyai.

Political Surveys as Guidelines for the Preparation of Political Communication
Abu and Lilik used a political consultant in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Election. The political consultant was from one of the institutions in the city of Surabaya, Lembaga P (Institution Name disguised). Political Consultants from Lembaga P have been used by Abu and Lilik since the 2013 Regional Elections, then for the reason of compatibility to be used again in the 2018 Regional Elections. This study found several political consultant P roles in winning the Abu and Lilik in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Election. These roles include: Conducting a political survey was carried out by the P Institution due to the client's request, namely Abu and Lilik. Political surveys from Institution P are carried out in an organized and systematic manner through three main stages. First, a snapshot survey is a survey stage that is carried out to see the mapping of choices or see the strengths of candidates for candidates in a certain period and is carried out through a quantitative basis with questionnaires given to the public of potential voters in political contestation. This stage or type of survey can be carried out long before the voting is carried out to get a picture of voters. Likewise, this survey can be carried out ahead of polling day to know the potential votes obtained by candidates.
The results of snapshot surveys conducted in the period long ago (5-6 months) before the regional elections can be used as a guide to developing a political communication strategy. The reason is that the survey results of the picture of potential voters have been obtained. Therefore, it can be a reference in making a political communication strategy to reach the public as potential voters. These findings are prevalent in studies of survey agencies and political communications. As Perloff (2014) explained, political survey agencies have an essential role in political communication, especially knowing the growing public opinion and as a framework for formulating political campaign strategies.
Nevertheless, according to AN political consultant from Institution P, the survey snapshot has the disadvantage of not being able to see the movement of public opinion over time since it is only carried out once in a predetermined period. However, snapshot surveys are a type of political survey that can be said to be economical because they do not require much cost to clients. Here is an excerpt from the interview: "Whatever the purpose, the survey is carried out once only. So, the advantage of this package is that it saves costs. However, because it is done once, the downside is that we cannot record the movement of the voters. So, we cannot know the votes of voters from time to time" (Interview with AN, December 09, 2019).
Therefore, clients of political candidates (the spouses of Abu and Lilik ) will continue the election at the next stage of the survey to obtain complete data for preparing political communication strategies and campaign products during the Election period.
Second, the survey panel is conducted to measure public opinion, carried out periodically (longitudinally). Unlike the snapshot survey, which only measures public opinion within a certain period, this survey aims to conduct surveys periodically within a certain period. The tracking survey aims to compare, over time, the movement of public opinion. Technically, the survey panel is also quantitative, with questionnaires disseminated to the public who are potential voters.
The results of a survey panel that identifies the movement of public opinion over time help evaluate the political communication carried out by Abu and Lilik. This statement was conveyed by AN political consultant from Institution P. Besides, according to him, the use of the survey panel chosen by his client, Abu and Lilik, helped determine their electability level over time. In other words, the rise and fall of the level of electability during the campaign can be known. These results can be used to evaluate political communication strategies related to the accuracy of the chosen strategy that has succeeded in increasing the electability of Abu and Lilik in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Election. Here is an excerpt from an interview with AN: "A panel is a survey for measuring public opinion carried out periodically (longitudinally). The purpose of tracking surveys is to compare the movement of public opinion from one time to another. Thus, the survey panel not only has the potential to photograph public opinion but also captures the movements and changes in public opinion and how voters vote from one time to another, whether the candidate is up or down. If it goes up, why, and if it goes down, what is the reason? Survey panels are also useful for evaluating whether the strategy taken by regional head candidates is useful or not in boosting electability. Otherwise, what strategy can be taken and so on" (Interview with AN, December 09, 2019).
Third, a tracking survey is a type of survey conducted to record the movement of votes' voters, Similar to the survey panel. The tracking survey was carried out several times. The difference between the survey panel and the survey track is that the respondents interviewed, the survey panel uses the same respondents to be interviewed in stages. In contrast, the survey tracking uses different respondents to be interviewed in stages. The tracking survey will be carried out ahead of the polling day in the regional elections. This polling is done to know the growing public opinion about the pair of Abu and Lilik. Here is an excerpt from an interview with a political consultant AN, explaining this: strategies include being part of direct communication to communicate directly face-to-face from the leading candidate to his political constituents (Vaccari & Valeriani, 2015). In Indonesia, this kind of political communication strategy is commonly used by leadership candidates, both in legislative and executive elections (Danil & Fitri, 2021).
According to Lilik, the door-to-door strategy is to communicate directly with residents and as a 'silahturahmi' to get closer and strengthen brotherhood with the residents of Kediri City. "The silaturahmi part is also with the residents, a form of serving directly [...] to strengthen relations with citizens" (Interview with Lilik, January 27, 2020). The diction expression 'Silaturrahmi' from' Lilik shows a process of political communication that runs on the value of Islam, meaning that communication is not just a process of conveying messages or building relationships as in the western perspective, but also from an eastern perspective, especially Islam, which teaches brotherhood between citizens or known as Hubbul Wathan Minal Iman.
The use of the door-to-door strategy by Abu and Lilik is inseparable from the context of the regional geography of Kediri City. As explained by the Leader of the Winning Team, namely Qowimmudin Thoha, the door-to-door strategy effectively communicates political programs from candidates because it is carried out directly with residents face-to-face and by shaking hands. This strategy is inseparable from Kediri City, which only has three sub-districts (Mojoroto, Kota, and Pesantren) which are not too broad, so it is possible to carry out a door-to-door strategy. The following is an excerpt from an interview with the Winning Team Leader: "Door-to-door, our victory is because Kediri is a small city. So that we door to door the time is enough, if the city is wide, the county is large. For example, consisting of more than 24 sub-districts, the village is up to hundreds, and the task may be much heavier. To maintain our trust in the people, who were then not shaken by the campaigns of other candidates, was also not much in Kediri [...]" (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019).
The door-to-door strategy is not only to deliver programs and bring candidates closer to the community but also a strategy to care for preconceived electability. This strategy worked adequately to support the electability of Abu and Lilik. They have been strong because of their position as the incumbent. This strong electability is maintained by going door-to-door. However, according to Qowimuddin Thoha, although electability has been strong, door-to-door is a vital strategy to safeguard constituents. This strategy is crucial due to the pair of other candidates who use the mobilization strategy of community organizations that can weaken the electability of Abu and Lilik.
Here is an excerpt from the interview: "Yesterday that is that is done, the communities that have been entrusting their choice to us, "was I still maintained, stay awake" (I keep caring of it, maintaining it up). So inevitably, we must be door to door, guard, and continue to accompany until the election is made. Had a shake? It happened (yes, because some candidates use the power of civic organizations" (Interview with Qowimmudin Thoha, September 28, 2019).
Lilik also explained that the door-to-door strategy is also used as an instrument of political participation, making people participate in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. However, political participation is only partly to be achieved. The door-to-door strategy is also an instrument for collecting data for recruiting political partisans who will support Abdullah Abubakar and Lilik in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Elections. These political partisans will be organized into volunteers tasked with assisting in the campaign process, caring for constituents, and escorting Abu and Liliks in the 2018 Kediri City Regional Elections. Here is An excerpt from the interview with Lilik: "During "the door-to-door campaign, we conducted data collection on residents to provide support at the polling station to the Abu and Lilik" (Lilik interview -January 27, 2020) Furthermore, the positive campaign strategy, Abu and Lilik used the positive campaign strategy by socializing their success during their first term as Mayor and Deputy Mayor. These successes include the development of Kediri City, the provision of Prodamas incentives which became a distributive political program to improve the welfare of the people of Kediri City. This finding shows that the potential positive campaign strategy is applied by a candidate who already has a track record in the political field, especially for a person with the status of an incumbent. This is because they have a program that has been run and can be used as content in positive campaigns.
A positive campaign as a political communication strategy is not something new in the process of political contestation. Some studies show that this positive campaign strategy is an effort to build the image of political candidates in society. This image is expected to bring out positive perceptions from the public toward candidates who will contest and increase the electability of candidates (Malloy & Pearson-Merkowitz, 2016). Abu and Liliks use this strategy to show presentations and programs that will positively impact residents, for example, by campaigning for the Prodamas program, which has been successfully implemented in the previous term of office (Haliim, 2019).
According to Lilik, the positive campaign seeks to focus on the programs offered to the community. In addition, he and Abu are trying to position themselves as problem solvers to the problems faced by the community.
"When the campaign, we commit not to blaspheme, convey real things and touch with the community's needs. We have also studied all the problems in the city of Kediri and are looking for alternative solutions to solve problems in Kediri" (Interview with Llilik, January 27, 2020).
This evidence confirms that a positive campaign conceptually places communication as an instrument for the candidate who cannot focus on his political opponents. Unlike the case with negative campaigns that focus more on their political opponents, namely the negative/bad things of their political opponents being campaigned for (Haselmayer, 2019;Walter et al., 2014).
In the 2018 regional election in Kediri City, Abu and Lilik were the ones who received negative campaigns from other candidates. According to the campaign leader, Qowimmudin Thoha, the negative campaign obtained during the campaign period was more towards highlighting the performance of Abu and Lilik during the previous period. According to Qowimmudin Thoha, this was done by other candidates to make the people indecisive in choosing the Abu and Lilik. Negative campaigning is not a form of crime in political dynamics because it seeks to highlight the ugliness/failure of other candidatesin contrast to black campaigns, which are legally prohibited. After all, they relate to slander, the spread of fake news, money politics, and other deviant political behaviour (Pamungkas & Arifin, 2019).
Abu and Liliks also obtained the black campaign in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. The destruction of outdoor campaign media such as banners, banners, and props was in the form of tearing. Another black campaign narrates the solution to the NU Muslimat Kediri City (Lilik's supporters base). This solution narrative is carried out by giving groceries and verbal incitement not to support Lilik (such as Lilik not raising PCNU and more heavily to other mass organizations). However, according to AZ, the black campaign obtained by Abu and Lilik was changed by King Maker (a third party) and the Success Team Leader by making it a positive campaign to gain the sympathy of the community and Muslims of NU Kediri City (AZ Interview on June 14, 2022). Thus, the black campaign that was supposed to harm Abu and Liliks turned into an advantage because it was turned into a positive campaign.

CONCLUSION
Our research concludes that the political background of Abu and Lilik coloured the political communication process in the victory of the 2018 regional election in Kediri City with cross-cutting affiliation between Muhammadiyah residents and NU Muslimat residents of Kediri City to support the Abu and Lilik. This cross-cutting affiliation was initiated by King Maker (a third party who has an affinity with Lilik) by utilizing a different political background from Abu, who came from Muhamadiyah, and Lilik from NU Muslimat Kediri City. Then, the political lobbying efforts carried out by the leader of the Success Team through the 'sowan' culture to the Kyai of Islamic Boarding Schools in Kediri City were carried out in order to get the blessing and support of the Abu and Lilik in the Kediri City 2018 regional elections. The political communication process is also based on the results of political survey data carried out by political consultant X (from Surabaya); political surveys are carried out through three stages, including snapshot surveys, survey panels, and survey tracking. Then, Abu and Lilik also carried out door-to-door and positive campaign strategies to get support, increase electability, and maintain the electability of the community towards Abu and Liliks in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City.
Our research has limitations on descriptive qualitative methodologies that have implications for data findings. In other words, our research is still limited to describing the political communication process of Abu and Lilik in the 2013 and 2018 regional elections in Kediri City, which are colored by different political backgrounds. Therefore, we advise subsequent researchers to conduct research using the case study method by focusing on the role of King Maker in determining the political communication process of Abu and Lilik in the 2018 regional election in Kediri City. In addition, further research may be taking other cases that have transferability with the results of our research, namely regarding the role of King Maker in determining the political communication process of candidates in the contestation of the regional elections.