Chief of National Police, Gen. Tito Karnavian, M.A., Ph.D., had a meet and greet session at UGM with UGM academic community on Wednesday (26/4) in Grha Sabha Pramana UGM during his visit to Yogyakarta. He had a discussion on recent issues in Indonesia, particularly the implementation of democracy and diversity in the country.
“UGM is not only a place of learning, but also a center of excellence, a think tank for Indonesia. The role of UGM in state development is huge with the presence of its alumni everywhere. That’s why I need to visit UGM to gather inputs from UGM professors here,” said Gen. Tito.
He explained some events that could potentially threaten diversity, such as recent heated political atmosphere in the run-up to the gubernatorial election for Jakarta. He asked citizens to return to the democracy that is based on Pancasila in line with the unity value upheld by the founding fathers.
“Recently, primordialism has grown stronger with issues on ethnic groups and religions coming to the fore. We all need to think whether these would threaten diversity and the concept of Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia or they are just a thing not to worry about,” he said.
He further mentioned that the Indonesian economic growth was good. He cited predictions saying that Indonesia’s growth would remain stable or increase if in the next few years Indonesia would come up as one of world biggest economies. But he said that to achieve this was not easy to do.
“In year 2035 Indonesia can be the world fifth big economy, in 2045 even surging to fourth beating India. But to reach that we have to be able to maintain economic growth above 5% and political, economic, and security stability is secured,” he said.
Responses came from UGM professors, Prof.Dr.dr. Sutaryo, Sp.AK and Prof. Dr. dr. Hardyanto Soebono, Sp.KK(K). Both emphasised the need to re-enact the value of Pancasila that should not perish in the times that are changing. Attention and role are needed to keep up this spirit from citizens and government.
UGM Chair of Board of Professors, Prof. Dr. Ir. Putu Sudira M Sc., stated UGM commitment to preserve the value of Pancasila in the context relevant to the times. This has become an inseparable part of the establishment of UGM and written in UGM statute.
“Since the first statute ever made at UGM in 1950, the aspects of Pancasila have always been included. Even in the new statute, it is stated that the function of UGM is to give service to society based on Pancasila and State Guidelines 1945,” he said.
In this context, the spirit to uphold Pancasila is implemented at UGM, among others, with the formation of a working group on Pancasila and Pancasila Congress to be held in July. These are expected to be the initiative to disseminate understanding and implementation of Pancasila as the unifier of the state, starting from university to all parts of Indonesia.