Gibran urges future leaders to sharpen sensitivity to public needs
“As prospective leaders, you must nurture sensitivity, growing aware of what is happening at the grassroots level,” he told participants of leadership courses organized by the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Gibran delivered a briefing to government officials, police and military officers, business actors, community organization members, and foreign citizens enrolled in the 27th National Leadership Course program and the 69th National Leadership Preparation and Consolidation program.
Speaking at the Vice Presidential Palace, he emphasized that well-targeted policies are born not only from proper planning but also from strong sensitivity to people’s needs.
In this respect, the vice president highlighted the government’s recent move to simplify fertilizer distribution mechanisms through deregulation, cutting the number of rules.
“Note that there were 145 regulations governing fertilizer,” Gibran said, adding that farmers used to face limited access to fertilizers due to regulatory, pricing, and availability hurdles.
On that note, he encouraged Lemhannas program participants to spend more time visiting communities to build intensive, productive communication, which he sees as key to capturing a holistic picture of the real challenges faced by people across the country.
“This is why I always take time to engage village leaders, fishermen, and farmers in dialogue on my visits. They would tell us a broad range of issues, which we need to tackle,” he affirmed.
The vice president further underscored the importance of communication in ensuring proper formulation and implementation of policies.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is crucial that you be sensitive to current conditions. Build good communication so that every step and policy is tailored to the actual conditions and well received by communities,” Gibran told the audience.
Lemhannas Governor Ace Hasan Syadzily, for his part, said that all participants had received briefings on national leadership, national resilience, geopolitics, and geostrategy, among other subjects.
He added that this year’s programs are aligned with the eight priority missions introduced by President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran.
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Translator: Fathur Rochman, Tegar Nurfitra