REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MALANG -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) calls on the people not to be easily deceived by the swarm of flying issues seeking to instill pessimism. Moreover, Indonesia is a very big nation.
"But often we are not aware of it. From the beginning Indonesia has been a big nation with its diversity and this is a gift from God," Jokowi said at the Malang Islamic University, East Java, on Thursday.
Addressing General Study on "Islam of Archipelago and Integrity of the Unitary State of The Republic of Indonesia to bring to reality Peaceful Indonesia, Jokowi said Indonesia has become a reference for study of "unity in diversity". "Indonesia has become a reference by other countries because of the success of the nation in fostering the principle of unity in diversity," he said.
He said, as a keynote speaker, Indonesia is made up of 714 tribes with 1,100 local languages, larger than most other countries. He said the larger a nation the more challenges it would face, but a big nation should not falter and get pessimistic in facing any problem.
"Don't let yourself be provoked by unfounded issues like Indonesia to be disintegrated, communism and foreign henchmen," he said.
Earlier this month, Jokowi's most potential rival facing the forthcoming presidential election Prabowo Subianto issued a controversial statement that Indonesia would cease to exist in 2030.
The general chairman of the Gerindra Party, quoting a fiction, predicted the dissolution of the country in the next 12 years. However, Prabowo said he was not being a pessimist.
"In my youth, I was involved in wars. How can a pessimist get through all that," he remarked.
Later Prabowo said he was only issuing a warning. Prabowo said the nation's leader should be aware of the country's weaknesses. He himself was fully aware of the current political situation in Indonesia.
Prabowo stated his readiness to compete in the presidential election 2019 if the people need him. "If the people still need me, of course as a patriot, I must be ready to take the duty," said Prabowo on Wednesday (March 28).
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