Jakarta, IO – As a vast country with enormous potential, Indonesia must play a role on the global stage. This was conveyed by presidential candidate No 2 Prabowo Subianto in an exclusive interview with US media NewsWeek titled “Exclusive: The Ex-General Who Plans to Make the Largest Muslim Nation a World Power.”
To achieve this, Prabowo said he would continue to strive to raise Indonesia’s global stature. One of the steps he will take is to strengthen the Global South under Indonesian leadership. He believes that Indonesia, as part of the Global South, is also responsible for encouraging and demonstrating the capacity of the countries within it.
“As president, I will work hard to consolidate Indonesia’s role as a champion of the Global South. One of the key areas where I will focus our effort is the reform of the United Nations Security Council,” said Prabowo, in an interview published on Monday (8/1).
To support the progress of the Global South, Prabowo said he would try to become a bridge with countries in the Global North. He emphasized that cooperation and dialogue would be his main tool in carrying out this step.
“I will also work hard to expand Indonesia’s role as an interlocutor between North and South,” he said.
Prabowo also showed his efforts to expand Indonesia’s role by revealing his proposal for a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He said the proposal did not come out of thin air but based on strong reasoning. He emphasized that the voices of Indonesia and Global South must also be heard.
“I did so for a number of reasons. I did so because I wanted to give voice the concerns and sufferings of developing countries,” said Prabowo. “I did so because I wanted to make it clear that we too, countries like Indonesia, cannot be ignored on discussions that are affecting their people, their economy, their future.”
He added that another step that shows Indonesia’s strength is its full support for Palestine. He reiterated that Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, will always voice and support Palestinian independence in global forums.
“Under my presidency, Indonesia will continue to support Palestine. We will continue to support this at the UN, as an OIC member, in every forum and every way we can until the conflict has been resolved once and for all,” he said.
Prabowo believes that the war taking place in Gaza, Palestine is a tragedy that must be stopped because it has killed and injured tens of thousands of innocent people. Apart from that, the war waged by Israel will only continue to limit the space for peace in the hearts of future generations.
“Through its killing and destruction, it is simply planting seeds of hate for an entire generation of Palestinians,” explained Prabowo.
Furthermore, Prabowo will also continue to strengthen Indonesia from within. He emphasized that no country would compete with Indonesia if all domestic potential could be managed and the benefits felt by the people of the country through industrial downstreaming.
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“Indonesia is too big to be aligned to any other country. Indonesia can only be aligned to Indonesia’s best interest!” Prabowo stressed.
Prabowo also expressed his commitment to working to develop Indonesia and protect every corner of the Republic. He will not allow Indonesia to become a country involved in tensions with any party.
“While I work to boost our development, our economy, our people’s welfare, as I work to boost our security, modernize our defense capabilities so that we can guarantee every square inch of our territory, we will not become part of any alliances or any blocs in this tension or any other.”