DPR Reminds Students to Remain Critical Despite Being Invited on Gibran's Working Visit

The Deputy Chairman of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR), which oversees education, Lalu Hadrian, has reminded students who join Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka on working visits to remain critical of government programmes. Lalu stated he had no issue with the students’ presence on the working visit. However, he believes that students’ critical attitude cannot be halted simply because they are invited on a government working visit. “A student’s critical attitude must not be stopped, that is our view. It means students also have an open mind and can see the development of government programmes that will be implemented or have already been implemented,” Lalu said at the parliamentary complex on Thursday (18/6). The National Awakening Party (PKB) politician also commented on the dissolution of a discussion forum featuring three high-ranking state officials by a group of students at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) on Monday (15/6) evening. He expressed hope that the issue could be resolved amicably, viewing the action as merely an expression of student anger carried away by the atmosphere. This is especially so given that the three officials present—Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Nusron Wahid, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono, and Head of the Poverty Alleviation Agency Budiman Sudjatmiko—did not take issue with the incident. “But I think there is no problem anymore, Mas Nusron, Mas Daryono, Mas Budiman have already understood it,” he said. However, Lalu also reminded that criticism should be delivered politely and uphold Eastern ethics. This advice was not directed solely at students, but at all parties who express criticism. “It does not mean students are impolite or discourteous, no. What I mean is that everyone must uphold these values, both students and the government,” he said. During his working visit to East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Gorontalo, and Papua, Gibran was accompanied by several students. Photographs shared by the Vice Presidential Secretariat with journalists showed a number of students in university blazers following Gibran up the steps of an aircraft. The working visit is part of the government’s effort to strengthen oversight and improve the governance of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme and the Red and White Village Cooperatives (KDMP). The students present included Keletus Sakaro from Sanata Dharma University and Daffa Ulhaq from the University of Indonesia (UI), as well as Nolan Christoper Adam from Pelita Harapan University (UPH), Rapid Bena Matin from Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed), and Salsabila Maulida from the Indonesian Institute of Arts and Culture (ISBI). “Today we are accompanied by several student representatives. We will depart for Ende, Gorontalo, and also Papua,” Gibran said at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta on Thursday (17/6), according to a press release.