Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Ceremony of the 58th Anniversary of Golkar Party, JIExpo, Kemayoran, Jakarta, October 21, 2022
Bismillahirahmanirrahim.
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good evening,
May prosperity be upon us all,
Om swastiastu,
Namo buddhaya,
Greetings of virtue.
Distinguished Chairperson of the Central Board of Golkar Party Mr. Airlangga Hartarto, along with Board members of Golkar Party from the central level to the local levels, all leaders and members of the parliamentary political group;
Distinguished the 10th and the 12th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Haji Muhammad Jusuf Kalla;
Distinguished leaders of Government Institutions, Cabinet Ministers, all senior members of Golkar Party: Mr. Akbar Tanjung. For your information, Mr. Akbar Tanjung’s wife, Ms. Nina Akbar Tanjung, was my Junior High School friend;
Distinguished Mr. Aburizal Bakrie, good evening. I see that Mr. Ical is very happy because the price of coal has reached more than US$400;
Distinguished Mr. Hatta; Distinguished Mr. Luhut Binsar Panjaitan. I am surprised that tonight Mr. Luhut wears a yellow suit. Please stand up, Mr. Luhut. He usually wears a batik, now he is wearing a yellow suit;
Distinguished Mr. Ginanjar;
Distinguished Chairpersons and leaders of political parties: Mr. Surya Paloh, Mr. Mardiono, Mr. Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, General Secretaries of political parties: General Secretary of PDI Perjuangan, General Secretary of PKS, General Secretary of PSI, and General Secretary of PAN.
I actually want to talk about many things. I have this speech text, but everything has been delivered by the Chairperson of Golkar Party. Mr. Airlangga Hartarto has explained everything from a to z.
First of all, I would like to wish a happy 58th anniversary to the big family of the Golkar Party.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Golkar is a political party with a long history in Indonesian politics. It has an experience of 58 years in Indonesian politics. Thus, I believe that the Golkar Party will be prudent in determining the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates for the upcoming 2024 elections. I also saw that everyone was shouting “Mr Airlangga Hartarto!”
I believe that those who will be appointed by the Golkar Party as Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates are good candidates.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The President is like a pilot, with a lot of passengers, namely all the people of Indonesia. The Presidential election chooses the pilot and co-pilot. This is not easy nowadays.
I have seen a content of Nas Daily about pilot selection. There is an airline company that aim to choose a pilot from two candidates. The first pilot said: “I will obey the laws of international aviation and I will fly at an altitude of 30,000 feet”. That’s the first pilot. The second pilot said: “I will provide seats in a business class for all passengers and I would give discounted tickets to all passengers”. The question is: who will you choose? It seems that you will choose the second one, because everyone will get a seat in a business class and everyone will get discounted or free tickets. You have to be careful, because it has something to do with emotion and lack of information. The offer is unreasonable: everyone will get a seat in a business class, with discounted tickets. That is a very good offer, but that is unreasonable.
The message from the story about the pilot selection is that we must be cautious in selecting the pilot and co-pilot candidates to be elected by the people. Be cautious in electing Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. However, the process should not be too long.
I have heard and seen that Mr Airlangga Hartarto has a good relationship with Mr. Mardiono from PPP and Mr. Zulkifli Hasan from PAN. I’m sure they will make a decision soon, we’ll just have to wait.
In today’s development era, we know that the world is really facing a very tough situation. The situation in the next year will be more difficult. I think all of you are aware that currently 14 countries are under the IMF supervision and 28 more countries are on the waiting list. It is estimated that the number will reach 66 (countries).
To that end, we should elect a highly-experienced leader in the future. One of the candidates, I think, is Mr. Airlangga Hartarto. Once again, in the development of any country, political stability is very important. We need security and stability, especially in a very tough situation that is very difficult to calculate and predict.
That concludes my remarks. Everything has been explained by Mr. Airlangga Hartarto.
Finally, once again, I wish you a happy 58th anniversary of the Golkar Party.
I thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
(RI/MMB)