Jakarta – On Saturday October 26 President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended the opening of the Pancasila Youth’s (Pemuda Pancasila, PP) 10th Convention and 60th anniversary at the Sultan Hotel in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Wearing a stripped orange and black batik shirt resembling the Pancasila Youth’s military fatigue uniforms of the same colour, Widodo said that the mass organisation (ormas) led by Japto Soelistyo Soerjosoemarno can help in realising a Golden Indonesia in 2045.
“I’m convinced that the Pancasila Youth will provide a path for the achievement of an advanced Indonesia, an Indonesia that is prosperous, because we aspire to 2045 being a golden Indonesia, an Indonesia which has huge economic power”, said Widodo.
According to Widodo, the Pancasila Youth should be grateful to God because several of its best leading members have been entrusted to hold important positions in state institutions.
“[PP Deputy General Chairperson] Pak [Mr] has been selected as the speaker of the MPR RI [People’s Consultative Assembly], then Bapak La Nyalla Mattalitti [who is the chairperson of the PP’s East Java branch] has been selected as the speaker of the DPD RI [Regional Representatives Council], there are also Pancasila Youth leaders who have been selected as a ministers, Pak Zainuddin Amali (Youth and Sports Affairs), so it is fitting that we thank God for this”, he said.
Soerjosoemarno emphasised that the Pancasila Youth is ready to take part in creating a society that is just and prosperous.
“We as are part of society are partnering with the government and other ormas and society, in realising the ideals of [Indonesia’s independence] proclamation, namely to create a society that is just and prosperous based on [the state ideology of] Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution”, he said.
Soerjosoemarno said he hopes that the Pancasila Youth's extended family, in partnering with the government, can assist in accelerating the realisation of the nation’s ideals.
“I hope that as a partner with the government led by Pak Jokowi, we can walk side-by-side, especially since our communication is running quite well at the moment”, he said. (ys/mb)
Notes
The Pancasila Youth was established by the army in October 1959, ostensibly to uphold the state ideology of Pancasila. During the 1965-66 anti-communist purge the group took an active part in the slaughter of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members and sympathisers. Under Suharto’s New Order dictatorship the organisation became an association of notorious thugs and petty criminals who carried out the regime’s dirty work. It still has close ties with factions of the military and police and has been linked to criminal activities such as racketeering and extortion. In recent years it has been involved in a number of violent turf wars with other vigilante groups and attacks on leftist groups and events that it deems to be “pro-communist” or “anti-Pancasila”.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Harapan Jokowi ke Pemuda Pancasila: Bantu RI jadi Negara Maju”.]
Source: https://poskotanews.com/2019/10/26/harapan-jokowi-ke-pemuda-pancasila-bantu-ri-jadi-negara-maju/
