Returning with a New Vision and Mission: Open Dialogue Between Anies Baswedan and The General Public
Wednesday (22/11), at Edutorium UMS, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta held an event called Open Discussion by inviting one of presidential and vice presidential candidate—Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar. This is such an unusual event within the scope of the campus, but then became a great event to gain more political insights. The Open Discussion was open for public attendance while also attended by tonnes of students and lecturers from Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta. Meanwhile, this Open Discussion itself also planned to be held at other two Muhammadiyah colleges; Muhammadiyah University of Malang and Muhammadiyah University of Jakarta along with the two presidential and vice presidential candidates.
This Open Discussion was hosted by Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu’ti, M. Ed. (General Secretary of Muhammadiyah Central Leadership) while presenting Prof. Dr. K. H. Haedar Nashir, M. Si as the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, and the panelists. In practice, the presidential candidates received various kind of questions about their vision and mission as well as what actions they will take in terms of making decisions to solve various problems in the future, such as handling inflation, expanding employment and health facilities, and distributing land for private sector.
Regarding the discussion of the private sector, it is said that the state should invest in private lecturers and teachers to maximize existing resources. “It is fitting that this country should invest in private teachers and lecturers. Because without private schools, we will not able to educate the nation’s generation,” said Anies in his speech.
Sayyid Amrullah as the regional leader of Muhammadiyah Cilacap Regency was very happy with this dialog, this is because this activity can provide new political insights about who are the candidates who have a good vision and mission, especially regarding changes in Indonesian politics to changes in other fields and how to implement them.
“This is very important to introduce Muhammadiyah citizens, so that they do not just vote, but Muhammadiyah citizens can choose presidential candidates who already know their vision and mission. It can also be for all levels of society, the general public and not just Muhammadiyah residents,” said Sayyid Amrullah.
We met Intan from Namlah Student Activity Unit in her first time getting the opportunity to vote for a presidential candidates. She said that she finally learned that knowing and being aware about the presidential candidates is very important and her vote is really needed for Indonesia, which means the purpose of this event had just achieved; increasing awareness of politics and educate. “It is necessary if the goal is to educate students, because events such as presidential debates are usually held in Jakarta, if they are divided into places like this, it makes the role of the community in contributing their votes more tangible and real,” she added.
Marsya and Fatimah, students from Nur Hidayah high school whom was attended this event also shared their experience during the event. They said that the event was intended to promote the candidates, yet still interesting. It even gave them glimpse into politics as high school students who already have the right to vote.
The event went well as there was no chaos, all dialog participants were also enthusiastic about the topic. Then, through this opportunity, the three Muhammadiyah colleges just fulfilled the purpose of holding the event, which is to facilitate the aspiration sharing and become a means of political education for the community in order to enliven the better atmosphere of the 2024 elections.
After all, we hope that the implementation of the vision and mission from the future president and vice president will be carried out well in accordance with what was campaigned for a better Indonesian society.
Editor : Shafaa Azka Indradi (Psychology ’21)
