Prabowo: Those Who Do Not Learn from History Will Be Punished by History

President Prabowo Subianto underscored the importance of a nation continually learning from history during his speech at the 19th Plenary Meeting of the DPR on Wednesday, 20 May.

He said there is an adage that those who do not learn from history will be punished by history, and will repeat the same dark history experienced by their ancestors.

He noted that this has been experienced by many nations around the world. Prabowo said the founders of Indonesia recognised that weak leadership and lack of unity would allow other powers to take the archipelago’s wealth.

‘This is history, it happens. Let us face the facts. The Netherlands, from the 1500s into the 1600s and 1700s, and into the 1800s, had a GDP per capita in the world during that period,’ Prabowo said.

He claimed that the country that once colonised Indonesia was, in his view, a small nation. He added that the Dutch wealth for centuries came from controlling Nusantara.

‘They controlled the territory that is now the Republic of Indonesia. Friends, because of that the founders of our nation were led by Sukarno when they laid down the blueprint for our nation’s economy,’ he said.

Prabowo referred to the blueprint as set out in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. He said Article 33 explains clearly the economic system that should be implemented.

‘And I want to emphasise my conviction that if we implement Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, and carry it out well and purely, our country will have sufficient resources,’ he said.