Thinking about the political years should not necessarily lead to a halt in all other activities until the political years pass.
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·3 minutes read
Thinking about the political years in 2018 and 2019 should not necessarily lead to a halt in all other activities until the political years pass.
The political years, which will be marked by the holding of 171 regional elections and preparations for the presidential elections in 2019, are ordinary things. In August 2018 the map of competition in the presidential elections will have been drawn up. It will not only be in that year regional elections will be held in Indonesia. Through the democratic process, changes at the top occur. The people will be sovereign in electing their leaders. This is a time of democracy, which should be greatly celebrated.
Nevertheless, in conjunction with the celebration of Christmas 2017, we perceive a certain degree of worry in sections of the community about our spirit of national and state integrity. The Christmas message of the Council of Bishops of Indonesia (KWI) and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) in 2017 conveys this worry. “At present we are worried. Our unity as a nation is being threatened with division. The worry and anxiety have been felt over the last several years.”
We underline this message. The worry and anxiety should not continuously haunt our life. In the political process of general elections there will be those who win and lose. However, if the general-elections process exploits deeply rooted sentiments, it could ruin national integrity, which from its origin has been diverse. There is heartache and it needs emotional healing, and it will take a long time to restore this national integrity. Its risk is too big if it fails to maintain “Indonesianness”.
The election of US President Donald Trump is an example. Trump’s acts to divide American citizens have led former president Barack Obama to comment, “if you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you’re not going to be able to govern them. You won’t be able to unite them later if that’s how you start.”
Obama’s statement is relevant to the present situation in the country. The political elite, who will take part in regional elections and presidential elections should comprehend that they will also have a big responsibility to knit together national integrity and not damage this integrity, which was built by the founders of the nation, simply in a search for power. The national integrity, which has been torn apart, has to be bound together again with an honest, not artificial, inner attitude.
It is in this situation that the celebration of Christmas finds its relevance. This Christmas celebration can be utilized to renew our private and communal lives to reach the objective of the state as mentioned in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution. Celebrate Christmas in a simple way in the spirit of struggling for peace and unity. Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it.