Prabowo Appoints Maruarar Sirait To Lead National Christmas 2025, Prepares 8 Candidate Cities For Host

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto appointed the Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP) Maruarar Sirait as chairman of the 2025 National Christmas Committee. In the inaugural meeting of the committee with the Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar, this year's Christmas celebration was proposed in eight cities.

"Thank you for the trust of the president and the father of the minister of religion. I joined a team that actually had worked first. We just had the first meeting, and I will report it to the President immediately," said Maruarar in Jakarta, Monday, October 13.

Maruarar explained that the committee would propose eight regions as candidates to host the 2025 National Christmas, namely North Sumatra, Jakarta, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, Maluku, North Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, and Toraja. The implementation time is proposed between 26 and 30 December 2025.

"Mr. President is happy with the number eight, so we propose eight regions, but most importantly, this Christmas should have a positive impact, not only ceremonial, but also beneficial for the economy and the local community," said Maruarar.

He added that the committee would involve all groups including cross-religious so that Christmas celebrations become a symbol of national unity. This step is taken so that Christmas becomes a momentum to strengthen harmony, unity, as well as provide tangible benefits for the community at the local level.

"Mr. President always teaches us to be united and united. He even goes to Egypt to fight for world peace, that's inspiration for us. In Indonesia, we must also present peace and togetherness," he said.

In addition to spiritual and national values, Maruarar also emphasized the importance of the economic impact of organizing national Christmas. He plans to integrate government superior programs such as free nutritious food (MBG), public schools, and red and white cooperatives in a series of Christmas activities so that the benefits are directly felt by the community.

Don't just be ceremonial. Christmas must have an impact. Gotong royong is also extraordinary, only then has the first meeting collected Rp 15 billion from donors. This shows an extraordinary spirit of togetherness," he said.

Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar positively welcomed Maruarar's appointment as chairman of the National Christmas Committee. He also emphasized that Christmas 2025 will be Christmas for all or Christmas for all, where all elements of the Catholic and Protestant churches collaborate through the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI).

"I really salute, the chairman wants to go to the leadership of the church, KWI, PGI, so that everyone feels involved. This Christmas should have a positive impact on all citizens of the nation from end to end of Indonesia," said Nasaruddin.