Jakarta, IO – On the evening of August 15, 2023, at Bidakara Auditorium, Jakarta, Presidential Candidate Prabowo Subianto, before the Civitas Academica of Universitas Kebangsaan RI (UKRI) and an audience encompassing the entire nation, shared his thoughts on the strategy and program of how to achieve the Golden Era of our nation in 2045, precisely one hundred years after our founding fathers declared our Independence, following three hundred and fifty years of Dutch colonization and three and a half years of Japanese occupation.
Prabowo eloquently and succinctly emphasized to everyone how we might attain this aim by applying the lessons of the past, utilizing the ability that our country possesses, and by the grace of God having a strong purpose and will.
In his delivery, Presidential Candidate Prabowo commenced his talk by citing the mandate for the Government, specified in our Constitution of 1945, laying out four areas for the government to aim at, namely – protecting every citizen and area of Indonesia, enhancing the general welfare of the people, educating everyone, enforcing law and order while basing all judgments on individual freedom, peace and social justice.
This elaboration was followed by itemizing the targets to achieve in the “golden era” for Indonesia 2045, as follows:
He emphasized that Indonesia must grow at a rate of 6% per year for the next 20 years in order to escape the middle-income trap. He did add, that the future administration’s mission would be made simpler because of the strong foundation currently being maintained by President Joko Widodo, who is wrapping up his second term in office. In other words, it should be possible to meet the goals set for the golden age in 2045. The accomplishments of the Jokowi Administration are listed below in macro indicators.
Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020– 2022, and a 5% annual inflation rate, President Joko Widodo has been successful in building a strong basis for the country to move forward. He continued by giving a number of statistics to demonstrate the strong economic foundation the Jokowi Administration had established.
He then went over the goals of the Golden Age of Indonesia and the strategy on how to attain them. He made a brief mention of how to construct a Pancasila Economy.
Pancasila Economics is based on five principles, namely, an economy emanating from religious values, one that aims at unity, an economy which values human dignity, an economy which fights for national interest, an economy that upholds egalitarian principles and is people-oriented, and an economy that upholds social justice. But what in essence do we mean by Pancasila economics? It is an economy which takes the optimal essentials of both socialism and capitalism.
What are these? It refers to an economy open for innovation and market freedom, yet also providing safety nets for those who are weak in society, and should there be a need, the government would directly provide help for the extreme poverty and nation-building. I guess in many countries this kind of system is called a ‘mixed-system’, a ‘hybrid system’ or ‘middle of the road system”. He mentioned three world leaders who all, in their own expression, basically support this system. They are none other than Pope Francis, who once said that “…market forces alone and trickle-down economic policies failed to produce social benefits”, Christian Laggard, the ECB President, said “Reducing excessive inequality – by lifting the ‘small boats’ – is good economics”, and finally US President Joe Biden said “Here is the simple truth about trickle-down economics: it has never worked.”
He continued by explaining how Pancasila economics has been applied in the Jokowi Administration thus far. He provided the following figures to demonstrate the social safety net programs of the Jokowi Administration:
The Presidential Candidate went over the aforementioned initiatives and how they were carried out under the Jokowi Administration before outlining the ten fundamental programs that must be implemented in order for Indonesia to enter the Golden Era by 2024. And in his opinion, they are the main programs.
He started with nine foci of policies as follows,
To boost the 2024-2029 human development program, the Government will provide lunch and milk in all schools for free.
Fast result best programs, 2024-2029
To finance development and poverty alleviation, the Government must raise taxes of GDP ratio to 16 %
He ended his lecture by saying that with the basis of President Joko Widodo’s economy we will achieve the Golden Era of Indonesia in 2024.
FINAL NOTES
These are what I could come up with, to the best of my recollection, as well as the notes I received from the staff of Presidential Candidate Prabowo Subianto, of the essence of his lecture delivered on August 15, 2023, at Bidakara Auditorium in Jakarta. I should add a bit of what I remembered from panelists, as well as representatives of the coalition parties supporting Candidate Prabowo Subianto, from the Golkar Party, Pan as well as President of Bulan Bintang Party Professor Yusril Irza Mahendra and from Gelora Party Mr Fahri Hamzah.
Prof. Mahendra suggested adding important areas in his area of expertise, including law education and judiciary reform. I am sure these are welcome additions to the already well thought out and complete programs. And last, but certainly not the least, I must jot down what was beautifully stated by Mr Fahri Hamzah. He said that he knows that Candidate Prabowo Subianto Is a learned man and also a student of history, not just in military and war but in international and national history, that came from a family well known in their dedication and patriotism, whether his grandfather the late Mr Margono Djojohadikusumo who was the founder of the state bank, BNI 1946, or his father, the late Professor Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, who established the Faculty of Economics of Universitas Indonesia, and was a Cabinet Minister in both the Old and New Order Governments. So, he said that all the programs that he succinctly explained in his lecture must have come out of his own thinking and contemplation all these years. So he said that he would call this program Prabowonomics and not anybody else’s ‘-nomics’. I happen to be part of FEB (Faculty of Economics and Business), Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, and I know Mr Fahri Hamzah well since he attended my class. And I cannot help, in ending this paper, to state my full agreement with Mr Hamzah’s argument that what we just heard is Prabowonomics, and not anybody else’s “-nomics”. I am an academic, one who in seeking credibility always wants to seek the truth, and as far as I am concerned, that is the truth.