Prabowo: India's democratic experience an important inspiration for Indonesia

President Prabowo Subianto believes India’s success as a democracy capable of maintaining governmental stability amidst diversity serves as an important inspiration for Indonesia. The Head of State conveyed this in his remarks at the Indian Community Reception held at the Jakarta International Convention Center (JICC), Jakarta, on Tuesday (7/7). “We look at India, a country of 1.4 billion people, many, many ethnic groups like us, many different regional languages. But managing so many years of peaceful transitions of government in many states, and in the Union of India itself, this is a remarkable achievement,” the President said. “And Indonesia, I myself also study this and follow the remarkable achievements of India,” he continued. Prabowo stated that democracy is not an easy system to implement. Nevertheless, he believes democracy remains the best system for achieving a just and inclusive national life. “Democracy is not an easy path, not an easy system. It is not easy. Sometimes it is very messy. But I think we agree that it is the best system for justice, for hope, for inclusivity,” he said. According to the President, democracy is inseparable from various challenges, ranging from threats to attempts by certain parties to weaken the system. However, Prabowo stressed that these challenges do not diminish the commitment to continue safeguarding and defending democracy. “There are dangers in democracy. There are traps. There are obstacles. There are people who want to hijack democracy. But we cannot give up. We must believe in democracy and we must strive to defend democracy. It is the best way of all the systems we have tried, that human civilisation has tried,” he stated. Furthermore, the Head of State invited all levels of society to continue learning from India’s experience in strengthening democracy. He said this learning is important for Indonesia as a country that also possesses great diversity. “The important thing is, the Indonesian people must learn from India’s experience,” he concluded.