VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): The Home Affairs Ministry sought to ensure a conducive and resilient economic, social, and cultural situation ahead of the 2024 General Elections by holding a national coordination meeting here on Tuesday.

"This coordination meeting on economic, social, and cultural resilience emphasizes on strengthening our social harmony to carry out a safe and peaceful 2024 election stage," Director General for Politics and General Administration at the ministry Bahtiar remarked.

His party had invited all related ministries and institutions, governors, district heads, mayors, as well as other stakeholders to attend the meeting

"We (also) invite the Social Affairs Ministry, Bappenas (National Development Planning Agency), BNN (National Narcotics Agency), Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, police, prosecutors, and so on," he said.

This is the first time that the ministry organized a national coordination meeting to discuss sociocultural resilience, he noted.

Meanwhile, other issues, such as those related to politics, economy, and security resilience, have been discussed quite often, he said.

According to Bahtiar, the sociocultural aspect highly influences the development of national politics and economy, thus it is important to discuss the aspect, especially ahead of the general elections, which are scheduled to be implemented on February 14, 2024.

"Hence, the social aspect must be discussed from upstream as well as downstream (perspective).The handling of social issues should be more measurable and focused,” he added.

The meeting was inaugurated by Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian. He appealed to all regional governments to always help maintain harmony and diversity among the community to prevent conflict, which can harm national unity.

Southeast Sulawesi Governor Ali Mazi thanked the Home Affairs Ministry for selecting Kendari City as the host of the national coordination meeting, saying the event could stoke the region’s economy.

"Moreover, we (as a host have to) welcome guests from (various institutions and local governments) throughout Indonesia. Let's receive these guests with a smile and provide the best hospitality to support (our) economic growth," he remarked.

The governor said that the ministry chose Kendari city as the location for the event because the region always creates a safe, conducive, and harmonious situation.

"Let's maintain harmonious relations among us," he remarked. (Antaranews)