Jakarta — President-elect Prabowo Subianto attended the Forum Legislator PKB (National Awakening Party) event held at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday (October 10). In his remarks, Prabowo expressed his joy at being invited and his commitment to bringing together all of Indonesia’s national strengths to foster unity and solidarity in building the nation.

Prabowo emphasized the importance of national cohesion, believing that despite previous political differences, cooperation between him and PKB could contribute to Indonesia’s progress. He acknowledged that PKB supported another candidate in the 2024 presidential election, but he remained confident that the party would eventually support him in building the nation.

“Even though PKB supported someone else in the last election, I’ve always believed that PKB would eventually return to support me, right? I am confident that PKB will work alongside me to build this country,” Prabowo said.

He encouraged everyone to respect and celebrate Indonesia’s diversity, viewing differences as part of the country’s strength. Prabowo pointed to the example of the Koalisi Indonesia Maju (KIM) coalition, which, despite having different electoral alignments during local elections, maintained mutual respect.

“With the Koalisi Indonesia Maju, there are times when we compete, and there are times when we join forces. For example, we competed with Golkar in Banten, and that’s fine. In West Java, we competed against PKS, and in Central Java, we teamed up with PKB—no problem. We must believe that all parties in Indonesia have the same heart for the nation, for the red and white,” he explained.

Prabowo further noted that Indonesia’s democracy has its own unique character, urging the public not to adopt the confrontational models seen in other countries, where political opposition often leads to animosity.

“We don’t need to follow other countries where being in opposition means hostility or where differences lead to people not even looking at each other. Proof of that is me being here today. I had just met with foreign guests in formal attire, and suddenly I had this event, so I only changed my tie to green—because of NU (Nahdlatul Ulama),” Prabowo shared humorously.

He concluded by reminding the audience that as a great nation, all Indonesians must respect differences and avoid the harmful habit of verbal abuse, which, he emphasized, is against the teachings of any religion. (RR)