Jakarta, IO – For two days, on August 30 and 31st, The Gerindra Party held a convention, attended by the entire Party leadership from the Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Secretary General, Treasury General, Board of Advisors, and Board of Experts, as well as Chairs of Branches at Provincial Level, Cities and Districts from all over Indonesia.
And on the second and last day, Leaders of the Indonesia Maju (Onward Indonesia) Coalition, along with President Joko Widodo who was present to deliver an address. This was the first time the Party had held a meeting since winning the election that confirmed Party Chairman Prabowo Subianto as President-Elect, to be sworn in on October 20.
The win was a landslide, whereby Mister Prabowo accumulated the largest number of votes in any democratic country, receiving more votes than President Biden did in 2020. So, for all Gerindra Party Cadres and supporters this was a big celebration and a time to thank the grace of the Lord upon the Party, and to pray for the success of a Prabowo Presidency, together with a Gibran Vice-Presidency, in leading the nation and the Republic for the next five years.
For Party members who had worked and followed in the past 16 years since the birth of Gerindra, winning the Presidential Election as well as other wins in the Parliament at all levels, as well as head of provinces, cities and districts, were very meaningful indeed. The President-Elect faced defeat several times in his previous tries, so this one must really have made him feel great indeed.
Even as a close family member, I feel that way, and why not? Praise the Lord. He achieved what he wished for life, to be able to do his best to improve the wellbeing of the nation he loves so much all through his career in the military, socially, politically and pretty soon in his Presidency. God bless our President-Elect Prabowo Subianto.
But, pretty soon he must face the reality as a leader of a big nation and country that must deal with many big challenges, domestically and abroad. He must lead Indonesia to move onward for the better, for better global recognition in an environment with so many challenges and problems, security-wise, economically, socially, on climate change and others. The Ukraine-Russia war, that has shown no sign of being settled, and likewise, if not even worse, the Middle East war between Israel and Hamas, plus Hezbollah, supported by Iran. Soon he must start to play a rôle, voicing the concerns of the country and ASEAN in global diplomacy. That baptism will be his contribution in the upcoming APEC meeting in Peru and G-20 Summit in Brazil, not long after the transfer of power. I trust that he will enjoy the good will of our nation and world leaders as well. So, all the best, Mister President, we all support you and wish you all the best.
Emeritus Professor of Economics, FEBUI, Jakarta, and Adjunct Professor of International Economics, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
We certainly cannot be complacent here. Our country must resolve huge challenges and many uncertainties as well as disruptions along the way. As for development, the big challenge arises from the fact that we do need to raise our revenues from taxes, as at present our tax ratio (tax revenues over GDP) only stands at 10 percent. This must be raised to be commensurate with our potential. We need to establish food security, by building rice estates at least to make us self-sufficient in rice harvests, as well as food in general. With limited budget space, we do need to galvanize private sector investment, domestically and from abroad.
The Ministry of Investment has a huge challenge, as does the Ministry of Finance. But this is not an impossibility; this could be done with hard work and good coordination, and, of course no corruption whatsoever. It was good news that the Ministry of Investment just got a new boss that had a track record in successful campaigning.
Previously, this post was entrusted to someone that reportedly could not even converse in English. How could you invite foreign investors to come to Indonesia if you could not converse in English nor in their language? Surely, an active and free foreign policy must be upheld. Again, these are doable with hard work and firm determination.
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Well, we must start right. Indonesia Maju (Onward Indonesia), is a huge coalition, and all parties, all members of the coalition must feel they have the right to put their cadres in the Cabinet as Ministers or Vice Ministers, which is their privilege indeed. Yet, they must also uphold the high- quality requirements, professionalism and clean, meaning no corruption, especially for those economic posts, health, education and social welfare.
The President must be allowed to use his prerogative, as in telling the person proposed to be replaced by another, if the proposed one was not up to standard. Fair is fair. Only this way can we have a strong government, one able to face the challenges headon, and we win. When we are willing to fight, we succeed.