TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) chief patron Prabowo Subianto voiced a string of criticisms on the government after holding Monday's closed meeting at the private residence Zulkifli Hasan, the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN).
Prior to conveying data on the country's condition, Prabowo said his criticisms to the government had often been misinterpreted as abusive words.
"Criticisms are important to me. Don't misinterpret them as cursing, scolding, looking for errors. In democracy, dialectics is good," he said on Zulkifli's house on Jl. WIdya Chandra IV/16 on Monday, June 25.
Prabowo added as the leader of an opposition party it was his role to correct and keep tabs on the government's policies.
“Without correction, it would be excessive,” he said.
Prabowo went on to say that his criticisms were based on data, including one from the World Bank in 2016 that showed Indonesia's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was $3570 or ranked 152 in the world.
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He also cited another one from the Human Development Index on the country's life expectancy, income, and education levels that ranked 113, slightly above Palestine.
"The question is, with this country being so rich, why is our country in the bottom row?" Prabowo said.
Prabowo said the government should use these indicators to determine whether the country was in a good state.
"After we look at the data, then we can ask whether our country is strong or healthy?" Prabowo Subianto said.
DEWI NURITA
