President Joko Widodo (in red tie) takes a close look at the police mobile command post on display at the Police Academy in Semarang, Central Java, Monday (9/10). In his speech at the 2017 Assembly of Regional Police Chiefs, the President called on the National Police and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) to maintain their solidarity.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo provided a reminder about the need for unity between the Indonesian Military and the National Police ahead of the 2018 regional elections and the 2019 simultaneous elections.
President Jokowi’s hope, which must be seen as an order, has to be underlined. The military and the police must continue to maintain the professionalism they have established since the 1998 reformation as the state’s defense tool and the people’s source of security and protection. Neither of them needs to be pulled into practical politics. The neutral stance of the military and the police regarding political power is a buffer needed to ensure political stability.
It is in the context of building unity that the role of military and police leaders, under the command of the president as the head of government, head of state and the highest authority, is crucially important. Both institutions must strengthen one another and share roles in order to maintain the country’s security and defense, as well as to maintain the principle of democracy and the state ideology of Pancasila. The leaders of both institutions must continue to build trust toward each other.
In a time of digital revolution, marked by the prolific use of social media, which has created divisions among the public, unity is needed not only between the military and the police. Efforts to build unity within the government, the working cabinet and government-supporting parties must also be built. Unity within the government is determined by, among other things, public communication. Unclear information, arguments or debates in the public sphere will be seen by the public as signs of disunity within the government. Divisions among the elite will lead to divisions among the people.
Efforts to build unity must continue to be made through intense communication. President Jokowi must continue to build dialogues within the government, and also with political parties that support the government. The leaders of political parties, especially those that support the government, need to be involved so that they support the government’s policies. Arguments and considerations must be discussed internally by the government and it’s supporting political parties. Differences of opinion and arguments can strengthen democracy. However, they must be directed toward a more productive purpose.
Improving the level of public trust and giving Indonesians hope for the future can be done if unity in the government, in terms of its ideas and its actions, is felt by the people. The public needs a clear understanding of the things that will be done by the government to realize the objective of the country as stated in the opening of the 1945 Constitution, which emphasizes the prosperity of all people.
