ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AT THE ANNUAL SESSION OF THE PEOPLES CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA 2017
Unofficial English Translation
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Peace and Prosperity be upon us all,
Om Swastiastu,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of virtue,
Beloved People of Indonesia, from Sabang to Merauke, from Miangas to Rote,
Honourable Speaker, Vice Speakers, and Members of the Peoples Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia,
Esteemed Heads, Deputy Heads, and Members of State Institutions,
Distinguished Working Cabinet Ministers and Heads of Non-Ministerial Government Institutions,
Distinguished Bapak B.J. Habibie, the Third President of the Republic of Indonesia,
Distinguished Ibu Megawati Soekarnoputri, the Fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia,
Distinguished Bapak Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Sixth President of the Republic of Indonesia and Ibu Ani Yudhoyono,
Distinguished Bapak Try Sutrisno and Bapak Hamzah Haz,
Distinguished Bapak Boediono and Ibu Herawati Boediono,
Distinguished Ibu Shinta Nuriyah Abdurrahman Wahid,
Distinguished Ibu Karlina Umar Wirahadikusumah,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
My Fellow Countrymen,
Let us together express our gratitude to Allah SWT, God the Almighty, for His blessings, we are able to attend the Annual Session of the Peoples Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia 2017.
Before this honourable session, I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all State Institutions, for their togetherness, synergy and good mutual cooperation. I am convinced that such togetherness, synergy, cooperation will not weaken the constitutional duties and responsibilities imposed by any state institution, but instead strengthen us all in fulfiling the people’s mandate.
In the spirit of the integrity of Indonesia, state institutions can work better, should we remind each other, control each other, balance each other and complement each other. No state institution has absolute power, more power over any other state institutions. This is the signature of our nation in running the state. This is the strength of our nation in facing every challenge. This is the distinct edge to our nation in facing the future. The strength which has also been reflected in the 72 years of the journey of our nation and state.
We must make history as the foundation for the future. A very important lesson learned from the history of our nation is that we were able to earn, we were able to achieve, we were able to proclaim independence because all children of the nation were able to unite, cooperate, and perform collective work.
We must strive to maintain, nurture, and strengthen the invaluable assets of the unity of Indonesia. And it must be our common ground to undergo and pass the tests of history, that is, to fulfil the promises of the declaration of independence. The promise of independence is to materialise an independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous Indonesia. I believe we will be able to accomplish this all task if we all wish to unite, eager to collaborate, and perform collective work.
In the future, our nation will face tough challenges. We will explore the oceans of globalisation. We will be dealing with rapidly changing dynamics. We will be confronted with advancement of destructive technological innovation. However, I believe, with unity, we will be able to overcome all those challenges. It is because our nation is a great nation. Our nation has proven itself to have survived the tests of time. Our nation is a nation of fighters.
My Fellow Countrymen, from Sabang to Merauke, from Miangas to Rote,
In seventy-two years of independence, we are grateful for all what we have achieved. This is thanks to the hard work of all the people of Indonesia, the collective work of the state institutions.
However, we realise that not all Indonesian people could enjoy the fruit of independence. We are also aware that the benefits of development are not yet evenly distributed throughout the country. We realise that social justice for all the people of Indonesia has not been fully materialised.
Therefore, in the third year of the Working Cabinet, the Government is more focused on equitable economic distribution. We want the Indonesian people who live in the periphery, border areas, outermost islands, isolated areas to feel the presence of the nation, to feel the fruit of development, and to feel proud to be citizens of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
Social justice must be manifested in the life of the entire Indonesian and the entire Indonesian native land. The people in Aceh are entitled to enjoy the services of education, health, sanitation, clean drinking water, and transportation in the same manner as other Indonesians across the country. We want people in Papuan borders to be proud of their Homeland because these borders have been transformed into the front porch of the Republic. We also want the Papuan living on the mountains and hills to enjoy the same price of fuel and staple foods as their brothers and sisters in other regions in Indonesia. We hope the people in Miangas Island can feel the presence of the Republic through Healthy Indonesia Card, Smart Indonesia Card, and Supplementary Feeding Program for toddlers and pregnant women. We want the people in Rote Island to feel the benefits of infrastructure developments, good connectivity and lower logistics costs.
We want the quality of life of all Indonesians to increasingly improve. Although our Human Development Index increased from 68.90 in 2014 to 70.18 in 2016, we should not get too content with ourselves. We must continue reducing income disparity. To date, we lowered Gini Coefficient from 0.414 in September 2014 to 0.393 in March 2017.
I believe with a just economic equality, we will become more united. An equitable development will unite Indonesia. A just development will make us stronger in addressing global competition. No one feels like being second-class or third-class citizen anymore because everyone is the citizen of the Republic of Indonesia. Everyone is equal in enjoying the benefits of development. Everyone shares responsibility in collective work to build the nation.
We wish to work closely not in a just economic equality, but also in the ideological, political, social, and cultural developments. In the realm of ideology, we must continue to strengthen our national consensus to preserve Pancasila (the Five Principles), the 1945 Constitution, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and the state motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity). The Government has initiated the establishment of Presidential Working Unit for the Fostering of the State Ideology of Pancasila (UKP-PIP) aimed at internalising the ideology of Pancasila to people from all walks of life, particularly the youth, our future successors. In the field of politics, we must complete the agenda for consolidating democracy to make it more institutionalised. We are grateful that we are able to conduct democratic process at the local levels, simultaneous regional head elections in 101 regions in 2017 in an orderly and and peaceful fashion.
In addition to ideology and political developments, we must not set aside social and cultural developments. We must educate our children to make them a generation who will go to the annals of history a generation who love the country, have good ethics, morals, and manners, as well as have strong, firm characters. We also continue to develop the culture of the nation which is diverse. Expression of arts and culture from various regions in Indonesia must continue to be awakened in order to enrich the diversity of Indonesia.
My Fellow Countrymen,
I believe the tasks of history for an independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous Indonesia have been inseparable from the support and active participation of the State Institutions.
Over the past year, the Peoples Consultative Assembly has strived to bridge the flow of changes, thoughts, aspirations of the people and the regions, and various political ethics of nationalism based on the values of deliberation and consensus, kinship, mutual cooperation in the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
As the vanguard of ideology, the Assembly firmly safeguards Pancasila as a guide of life in the society, nation, and state. I welcome the Assembly’s stance to work in synergy with the Presidential Working Unit for the Fostering of the State Ideology of Pancasila which I have set based on Presidential Regulation No. 54 of 2017 for the dissemination and actualisation of Pancasila values ??in the life of the nation and state.
In carrying out the functions of studies of the constitutional system, the 1945 Constitution and its implementation, the Assembly has succeeded in formulating the National Economic System Structuring, which we hope can support the successful equitable distribution of development. As for absorption functions of public aspiration on the implementation of the 1945 Constitution, the Assembly has facilitated a number of nations activities in order to expand the application of ethics in the life of the nation and state in all walks of life.
In the meantime, the House of Representatives also strives to carry out its internal reform to be a public representation body which is more modern and trustworthy.
In performing legislative functions, the House of the Representatives, among others, has completed 14 Bills on the Priority of the 2017 National Legislation Program, some of which are directly related to the smooth support of the Governments program during 2017 such as the increase of non-oil and gas exports of high value added goods and services, the simplification of licensing and the provision of services and facilities to invest.
In carrying out the functions of monitoring of the administration, the House has formed 46 working committees in various domains of development, as well as conducted fit and proper tests on the proposal of the appointment of a number of state officials. Such tests were applied to select the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority; Members of the Audit Board of Indonesia; Members of the General Elections Commission and the Election Supervisory Board; and the Head of the State Intelligence Agency. The House also gives consideration and approval to 23 Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of friendly countries.
Equally important is that the House also continues parliamentary diplomacy to strengthen cooperation between Indonesia and friendly countries to fight for our national interests and find solutions to various international issues. The diplomacy was conducted through the Bilateral Cooperation Group between the House and the Parliament of the Friendly Countries. The House currently has established 49 Groups and plays an active role in international inter-parliamentary cooperation forum.
My Fellow Countrymen,
On the other hand, the Regional Representatives Council continues to strengthen its constitutional role, particularly in accommodating and channeling the aspirations of the people and the region. We are truly happy because the Council has shown its performance and maturity in going through difficult times of its internal consolidation.
Amidst the challenges, until the first semester of 2017, the Councils hard work managed to produce 10 considerations of the Bill and 5 considerations on the budget as well as 13 monitoring results over the implementation of certain laws.
Some of these considerations are sorely needed to accelerate the equitable distribution of development in the regions, such as consideration of the Bill on the Management of Border Areas and the Bill on the National Entrepreneurship and the supervision over the implementation of the Law on Villages.
My Fellow Countrymen,
In safeguarding the state financial management, the Audit Board continues to strive to make breakthroughs to improve the quality of state financial management and accountability both in the central and regional administrations. We are grateful that in 2016, the Audit Board, for the very first time in the history of national development, awarded the Unqualified Opinion (WTP) status to the state financial management. In carrying out the task, the Audit Board has worked closely with the Government Internal Oversight Body. Through such synergy, overlapping inspections that have occurred in the last few years can be fixed.
The Audit Board also implemented a Monitoring Information System of the Follow-up to Inspection Report. With that system, the Audit Board can monitor the follow-up to inspection reports in every Ministry, and Non-Ministerial Government Institution in a more accurate, efficient and timely manner.
We also appreciate the appointment of the Audit Board as the external auditor for the International Atomic Energy Agency since last year for the period of 2016 2020. The nomination of the Audit Board not only gained an international acknowledgement but also raised the fame and reputation of Indonesia.
Regarding the development in legal sector, the Supreme Court continues to make efforts in facilitating the people to gain access to justice and public services. Thus, in the first semester of 2017, the Supreme Court has successfully implemented a number of innovations, including the Audio Text Recording System, and Electronic Individual Court Fee Calculation Mechanism in order to create an ease of court services. The Supreme Court also expands public service in remote areas through mobile court programs and conducts court outside the court building.
In addition to innovations in public service, the Supreme Court also carried out Accreditation to Ensure the Quality of Judicial Bodies, to date, the Supreme Court had successfully accredited 186 courts until June 2017.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court strives to work to affirm its role as the vanguard of the constitution.
Until mid-2017, the Constitutional Court has ruled 55 cases received. Some of which were related to disputes over the results of regional elections. This success has led the Constitutional Court to a 2017 Election Supervisory Agency Award. In carrying out its role as a guardian of the values of democracy, the Constitutional Court in 2017 has successfully maintained international community trust as the Permanent Secretariat of Association of Asian Constitutional Courts.
We also appreciate the efforts of the Judicial Commission in improving the accountability of judicial service in the Homeland. The Judicial Commission has resolved 8 judge advocacy cases, and monitored 89 court sessions by public report. The Judicial Commission has also facilitated the organisation of Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct Trainings for 277 judges. In safeguarding the dignity of the judiciary, the Judicial Commission has recommended the imposition of sanctions on 33 judges, ranging from mild to severe sanctions.
My Fellow Countrymen,
Distinguised Ladies and Gentlemen,
Once again, we must not become complacent with these achievements since we still have tough challenges ahead. We still have poverty and injustice; we are also confronted with global economic uncertainty, extremism, radicalism, and terrorist movements.
However, out of all these challenges, the most crucial one that should become a common priority of all state institutions is to gain high public trust. Public trust is the soul and energy for all state institutions in carrying out their respective duties and functions.
I call on all people, all state institutions to place people as the integral entity of the nation. I encourage us all to always heed the mandate and calls of our people. I invite you all to join hands, collaborate, and perform collective work to materialise social justice for the whole people of Indonesia.
Finally, with a spirit of the unity of Indonesia, I believe we can carry out our constitutional duties for an independent, sovereign, and esteemed life of the nation.
Long live the Republic of Indonesia!
Long live the Motherland of Pancasila!
I thank you,
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om,
Namo Buddhaya.