Through 'PANDai', PAN Promotes Strengthening of Islamic Morality From an Early Age

Jakarta — The National Mandate Party (PAN) has organised a national Islamic knowledge competition titled ‘PANDai 2026’. The event was officially opened by PAN’s chairman, Zulkifli Hasan, commonly known as Zulhas.

In his remarks, Zulhas stated that PAN is a reformist party that continues to provide education across various fields, particularly in building the character of young people. He emphasised that character and moral development must begin from an early age, and that through the PANDai initiative, PAN aims to strengthen such values.

“This is what PAN and the party’s central board are doing with PANDai – to train and develop our young people so that in addition to having skills, they also receive character education, specifically Islamic moral character that aligns with our identity,” Zulhas said at the PAN central office in South Jakarta on Thursday, 12 March 2026.

Zulhas raised concerns about contemporary youth socialisation, which is increasingly influenced by technology. He noted that speech containing gossip, which was previously considered taboo, has become normalised among young people today.

Through the PANDai initiative, Zulhas expressed his desire to foster a return to spiritual values and noble character (Akhlakul karimah) among young people.

“What we are doing as the National Mandate Party through PANDai is to return to values – spiritual values, values of Indonesian identity, what we know as noble character,” he said.

During the event, Zulhas also expressed his appreciation for competition participants by increasing the cash prize amounts across all categories, from first place to consolation prizes.

“I heard the first prize is 30 million rupiah? Let’s increase it to 40 million rupiah. The second prize? Let’s make it 30 million rupiah. The third prize? Let’s make it 25 million rupiah. Consolation prizes one, two and three, each at 5 million rupiah, let’s make them 10 million rupiah each,” Zulhas announced.

In addition to the cash awards, Zulhas also pledged to provide tablets for the competition winners to support their education.