Election Debate; Jokowi to Bring Up Pancasila as Political Weapon

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jokowi - Ma'ruf campaign team spokesman Ace Hasan Syadzily said the incumbent candidate is ready to face the fourth election debate on Saturday, March 30. Moreover, the topics of the debate are ideology, governance, security, and international relations.

Ace mentioned issues about ideology will become the weapon of Jokowi in fighting against the opponent Prabowo Subianto during the debate.

“The government under President Jokowi has done many policies that aim at strengthening the implementation of the country’s ideology, Pancasila,” said Ace in a written statement on Wednesday, March 27.

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Jokowi, he outlined, continued to educate the public about the implementation of Pancasila as the state ideology. For example, Jokowi tapped the first of June as a national holiday to commemorate the birth of Pancasila and established the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education (BPIP).

“The government also takes firm action against parties who threatening the existence of Pancasila,” Ace added.

One of the government’s efforts in holding up Pancasila as the country’s ideology was the issuance of regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) concerning the ban on an anti-Pancasila mass organization. Through the policy, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) was dissolved.

For the next five years, Ace continued, Jokowi will carry out several strategies in a bid to strengthen the implementation of Pancasila, such as optimizing the role and function of BPIP, applying a standard of Pancasila learning method and material study in education and training system recommended by BPIP, evaluating and improving regulations that contradicts the country’s ideology.

DEWI NURITA