Jakarta – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is certain that past incidents such as the rebellion by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) will not be repeated in Indonesia. Nevertheless, he is calling on all parties to be on guard against the emergence of movement groups such as this.
“Don’t let there be a lack of vigilance, even though I’m sure the incident will be repeated, and I hope that the G30S/PKI [September 30/PKI] affair will not happen again in our land”, said Widodo after inspecting a Pancasila Efficacy Day event at Crocodile Hole monument in East Jakarta on Thursday October 1.
Widodo also took the opportunity to explain that he would not be apologising to PKI family members and denied rumours that have been circulation about government plans to apologise to former PKI members.
“There hasn’t been any consideration of apologising, up until this point there hasn’t been any thinking in that direction”, he said.
On Wednesday September 30, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung stated that they know the identity of the individual that has been spreading slander against President Widodo. Anung believes that the slanderer had created a great deal of unease by saying that Widodo would apologies to the families of former PKI members.
Anung revealed that the individual’s identity was discovered thanks to cooperation with the national police. The slanderer allegedly circulated a series of messages on Tuesday September 29 saying that Widodo would meet with PKI family members and former members of the PKI affiliated women’s organisation Gerwani at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Jakarta.
Anung said no legal proceedings have been yet taken against the slanderer and that proceedings will only be considered if the slanderer does not stop their actions.
[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Jokowi Yakin Pemberontakan seperti PKI Tak Akan Terjadi Lagi.]
