VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

All efforts must be optimized to ensure that people do not fall victim to identity politics in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections, President Joko Widodo has said.

"Regarding political and security stability issues in the run-up to the 2024 elections, I hope you can maintain a conducive situation and ensure the people are not becoming a political victim, an identity politics victim," he emphasized during the “2023 Regional Heads and Regional Leadership Forum National Coordination Meeting” in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.

While reminding the police and the military not to involve themselves in politics, the President also urged regional leaders to map election vulnerabilities in their respective areas.

"We must not act only after the incident occurs, nor point fingers to who we must blame," he said.

He asked all parties to show sensitivity in the upcoming election year by monitoring public conditions and allowing frictions and issues to be resolved sooner so that they do not lead to potential clashes.

Last December, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo had also urged political parties to refrain from identity politics that could cause polarization in society.

Political parties must not vie for popular support by promoting polarization based on religion, ethnic groups, and race, which could be harmful to Indonesia's democracy, he said.

"There is no time for anyone who promotes religious, ethnic groups, and racial polarizations (during electoral campaigns) to gain more voters as it will cause division among the people. Solidarity and national unity and integrity must be our priority," Soesatyo expounded.

Political parties and the people must also strive to make general elections an enjoyable "fiesta of democracy" that does not divide the nation, he remarked. (Antaranews)

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno stated that the promulgation of additional leave days proposed by the ministry aims to drive domestic tourism to achieve the 1.4-billion movement target in 2023.

By declaring an extra day off a working day to substitute public holidays that fall on weekends, the minister believed that it could increase workers' productivity and well-being.

"It has been proven by studies that following a long weekend, (workers) will be fresher and have greater productivity, and we have its scientific reference," Uno stated at the ministry's weekly brief, as observed here, Monday.

Uno remarked that the Ministry of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN-RB) had been notified about the proposed additional leave day plan.

"We have proposed this to the (PAN-RB) ministry, and the decision now depends on the (Tourism and Creative Economy) ministry's Deputy of Strategic Policies. We can start by declaring only some off days this year, but we must not hastily declare (year-round) extra off days," he expounded.

The minister said that extra leave days would give more time to residents to enjoy their holidays, particularly during Eid al-Fitr, Christmas and New Year's Day, and school holiday periods.

"We are now finalizing the arrangement, and I also propose more changes to be finalized. Thus, we could have longer holidays that could bolster tourism movement nationwide," Uno stated.

Meanwhile, he said that those in the industry sector could adjust their working days if they feel the extra off days are burdening.

"We are open (to criticism) if they feel it will burden them, and we must also consider ways to incentivize the industry to relieve their burden," Uno remarked. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) appealed to regional leaders to diversify their region's branding in line with the local potential and avoid monotonous promotional taglines.

Jokowi pointed out that several cities and districts have a similar branding pattern, a single word starting with the Indonesian language prefix "ber-" as an abbreviation of the region's core values.

"Cities and districts must not have the same monotonous branding. We have 'beriman', 'berhiber', and 'berseri' (city brandings) that all start with 'ber-'," the president stated at the 2023 Regional Heads and Regional Leadership Forum National Coordination Meeting in Bogor, West Java, Tuesday.

Jokowi noted that Indonesia's 514 cities and districts in 38 provinces must prudently design their cities by optimizing the local potential and conceiving a forward-looking master plan.

With an appropriate master plan in place, Indonesian cities and districts would have diversified branding according to their local potential.

"Make your city branding according to your potential and where we excel. For instance, make the city branding 'City of Banana', why not? Or 'City of fish', why not? 'City of Music', why not? Or 'City of Furniture', why not? But it must be consistent," Jokowi emphasized.

The president underscored that if a region, for instance, decided to highlight its banana produce, then it should start spotlighting its excellence in banana products.

He cited as an example the city of Davao in the Philippines as a success story in highlighting bananas as their branding point, as the city's banana industry and all aspects of bananas in the city "make people think of bananas when they think of Davao".

"(The regional authority) must plant more bananas in the region, then prepare the industry for the banana harvest. Prepare all aspects to ensure the city branding will be visible," he noted.

He also highlighted the success of High Point city in the US state of North Carolina to develop the largest furniture exhibition and Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota developing its golf courses as the city's backbone that should be emulated by Indonesian regions.

For Indonesian cities, the president suggested that Lampung enhance its "Banana city" or "Pineapple city" branding and Ambon in North Maluku develop its "Fish city" branding by emulating Tokyo's renowned Tsukiji Fish Market. (Antaranews)

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif spotlighted the sustainability of the global energy transition at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) meeting in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, on January 14.

"This is a real step towards Net Zero Emissions in 2060 or sooner and Indonesia's support for the United Nations Climate Conference COP28 to ensure that the program is running as planned," he said as quoted from the official website esdm.go.id monitored on Monday.

As the Vice President of the Assembly at the meeting, Tasrif highlighted Indonesia's commitment to accelerate energy transition until 2023.

That includes programs to accelerate the development of New and Renewable Energy (EBT), early termination of the operation of the Steam Power Plant (PLTU), cofiring biomass at the PLTU, the mandatory 30-percent biodiesel regulation, and the development of a supergrid electricity network.

Furthermore, the Indonesian government is preparing various legal umbrellas to provide conducive business certainty in the EBT sector as an effort to increase the utilization of EBT industry development and the national economy.

During the meeting, the minister also drew attention to the role of Southeast Asia in accelerating energy transition. One of the aggressive steps taken is the development of low-carbon technology innovations and large funding.

"According to the IRENA report, in 2050, ASEAN will need financing amounting to US$29.4 trillion including for fuel, operation, and maintenance costs as well as the financing cost scenario with 100-percent renewable energy," Tasrif remarked.

Meanwhile, Director General of IRENA Francesco La Camera said that the role of international cooperation contributed to the success of energy transition.

Those efforts must be accelerated while ensuring that the benefits are spread evenly across countries and communities, he said. 

"International cooperation will play an important role in ensuring that all countries have the opportunity to accelerate fair distribution of technology and secure the investments needed to achieve their goals. IRENA's membership offers a unique platform to drive the global energy agenda at COP28 and beyond," he said.

The IRENA meeting was chaired by La Camera along with India's Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy as President of the 13th Assembly with the theme of "World Energy Transitions-The Global Stocktake".

At the meeting, Indonesia served as Vice President of the Assembly along with Zimbabwe, Belgium, and Uruguay. (Antaranews)