Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia requires state guidelines to be the national lodestar in tackling radicalism and terrorism and developing the country in future, according to the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) Secretary General.
“Radicalism, terrorism, and intolerance will disrupt the country and our mission to realise the noble goal of the nation’s founders. Hence, state guidelines are a necessity in various aspects of the nation,” MPR RI Secretary General Ma’ruf Cahyono stated.
Cahyono’s statement was delivered during the national seminar on religious moderation broadcast by the Purwokerto Muhammadiyah University TV YouTube channel as observed in Jakarta on Monday.
The secretary general noted that the MPR RI was currently conceiving the state policy guidelines (PPHN) to ensure the country’s development path in future.
The PPHN are essential to prevent the national development from deviating away from the noble goal of the nation’s founder, he affirmed.
“Without a lodestar, the country would be lost,” Cahyono emphasized.
He remarked that the state guidelines would help Indonesia to be better positioned to face challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which had also disrupted the global community.
“We cannot avoid the huge gush of wind while sailing in the seas. What we can do is manipulate the sail instead,” he stated.
By using the sailing allegory, Cahyono emphasized that the state policy guidelines will become the sail that would guide Indonesia’s development amid various threats and challenges.
The presence of the PPHN has become more urgent, as Indonesia is facing uncertainties and complexities in the nation’s diversity, he remarked.
“If we do not have the sail that we can manipulate to direct us to our destination, we will have no independent, sovereign, united, just, and prosperous Indonesia,” Cahyono stressed.
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