In Front Of Megawati, Jokowi Said That PDIP Is A Political Party That Defends The Small People, Consistently Helps The Government In The Face Of The Pandemic

President Joko Widodo (Photo: BPMI Setpres via Antara)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo attended the 49th Anniversary of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Monday, January 10. Approaching its golden age, the President congratulated PDIP for being the largest political party in Indonesia.

"Happy 49th anniversary of the PDI-P. Alhamdulillah, now at the age of 49, PDIP has succeeded in becoming the largest political party in Indonesia," said President Jokowi in his remarks which were monitored online, Monday, January 10.

According to Jokowi, PDIP has reached a political party that consistently fights for the interests of the small people, consistently fights for state sovereignty and the independence of the nation.

On this occasion, Jokowi also expressed his gratitude for PDIP's support to the government in preparing policies and in dealing with difficult times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Thank God we managed to manage this very complex challenge. If we look at the month of July we are really in a position full of horrors with the number of 56 thousand cases per day. And confirmed cases as of January 9 yesterday as many as 529 cases, down 99 percent from the peak last July. We should be grateful for this," said Jokowi.

In front of the Chairperson of the PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri, Jokowi also revealed the success of the vaccination achievement which continues to be accelerated. It is known that Indonesia is in the top 5 with the highest number of vaccinations in the world.

A total of 288 million doses of vaccine, said Jokowi, have been injected into the Indonesian people. The first dose reached 81 percent, the second dose 56 percent. Meanwhile, 29 provinces out of a total of 34 provinces have injected the first dose of more than 74 percent.

"Even though we managed to get through the pandemic process, we must remain careful, alert to the possible risk of a pandemic because of the Omicron variant, as stated by Megawati," said Jokowi.

Jokowi emphasized that the pandemic must not stop the government's efforts to improve people's living standards. Including the problem of stunting which is a challenge for Indonesia's superior human resources.

"(Stunting) we continue to reduce. Thank God the stunting rate in 2021 will drop to 24.4 percent from the previous 37.2 percent, 7 years ago," said Jokowi.

Then the people's access to education, added Jokowi, the government also continues to guarantee. Especially for the underprivileged.

We also continue to provide assistance from basic education to higher education. For example, for 2021 the smart Indonesia card with a budget of Rp. 11 trillion for 21 million students throughout the country. water in 2021," Jokowi explained.