Finally the meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Indonesia’s sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, took place.
News about the meeting had long been heard. Yudhoyono had several times expressed his desire to meet with President Jokowi. Jokowi also said on Thursday that he had long planned for the meeting. Jokowi had earlier held meetings with several party chairpeople, former president and vice presidents and a number of national figures. He even met with Prabowo Subianto twice, the general chairman of the Gerindra Party and his rival in the last presidential election.
The meeting between the sixth and seventh presidents can be interpreted in many ways. It could be linked to the current national political situation, especially concerning the second round of the Jakarta gubernatorial elections and efforts to eradicate corruption.
It is not good when leaders of the country are distrust each other due to miscommunication and misinformation. Leaders are justified to have different goals and political beliefs, but building friendly ties among them is important for development, security, righteousness and welfare of the people and nation.
It is more beneficial for national leaders to share their ideas to find solutions of the country’s various problems than to sneer each other, which will only worsen the situation. This country is facing a lot of problems, for example, the problems of intolerance, radicalization, extremism, sectarianism along with economic, social and political issues. There are often threats to disrupt the country’s pluralism and Pancasila state ideology.
By having a meeting, both Jokowi and Yudhoyono had opportunities to establish communication. We, the people, hope that our leaders can provide examples on how to live peacefully with reciprocal respect and appreciation.