3 causes to rapid spread of SARA issues: President

 President Joko Widodo said there are three reasons behind the quick spreading of issues relating to religion, race, tribe and between groups (SARA) in Indonesia, at the moment.

In an exclusive interview with ANTARA News Agency in the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Thursday, the President said that issues regarding SARA have been spreading rapidly, despite the fact that Indonesia has been independent for 72 years. On the other hand, however, the nation seemed to still be preoccupied by arguments about the nature of diversity, even about the ideologies in Pancasila.

"The first issue is about education, which is very important. Secondly, it is about economic matters and our annual income. Thirdly, it is about politics. Everything is being thrown in together," the President, commonly known as Jokowi, stated.

During the interview, President Widodo was accompanied by Presidential Special Staff Johan Budi and Head of the Palaces Press Bureau, Media and Presidential Information Secretariat Bey Triadi Machmudin.

Jokowi said he believes that the three issues, in particular, including education levels, economic states and political influences, have merged into one and are resulting in the people becoming prone to be aggravated by SARA related topics.

"So it is a mix of each factors. I will give you an example of the political issue related to the governors elections and other elections in other provinces," he said.

After the political events have finished, he continued, the arguments around it should be finished, as well, but they continue to be discussed among the public, as they have been politicized.

He elaborated on the fact that after the general elections, or completion of the governors elections, the issues around them are often being continued and exploited further, so that the people are carried away with them, too.

He believed that this has to do with the level of education in society.

"There must be an influence that came from it, because these days, almost everyone has smartphones and spends a lot of their times on their phone. Information that is being displayed there plays a big role in this," he said.

For that reason, the President hoped that all electoral candidates, success teams and elites in politics and political parties, would play their role in educating the mass public.

"The arguments and debates should have been finished by now and we should all have been back to work. That is how it is supposed to be," he said.

On a national scale, the President predicted that this preoccupation with issues will continue until the 2019 general elections, however, he is confident that as time goes by, society will become more mature.

"All of these elections will make society smarter and more mature. This might be a transitional phase, but at some point, they will be more intelligent and have a better understanding about the situation," he said.

This is a part of our democracy and learning process, as well as the process of political maturing that the nation will have to go through," he concluded.(*)

Source: ANTARA