Author: Tengku Herry Sapta *
The General Chairman of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh, as a native son of Aceh, invited all Acehnese people to confidently choose palson number 01 Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin in the 2019 Presidential Election. The statement was motivated by the real situation that Aceh was better and advanced in the future President Joko Widodo’s government. For this reason, the Acehnese people supported the continuation of President Jokowi’s work to bring Aceh to be better, both in terms of economy, infrastructure, and socio-cultural progress.
Surya believes that as long as the community still gives a mandate to President Jokowi to return to serving as president until 2024, Aceh can be better than today. Surya appealed to the Acehnese people not to be easily provoked by negative propaganda about Jokowi. The Acehnese must be able to protect themselves from hoax news that calls Jokowi a less Islamic figure.
During this time many reports from the opposition said that President Jokowi was less Islamic and did not understand religion. In reality, President Jokowi dared to accept the challenge of the Al-Qur’an reading test and conversely the opposition Prabowo was afraid to take the Al-Qur’an reading test. President Jokowi is also more often seen praying in congregation with the community when conducting work visits in the area.
Aceh is known as the Veranda of Mecca where the people hold the teachings of Islam that are far from lies. Surya Paloh invited to jointly save our fellow Acehnese brothers. That is to say something that is true is true, and what is wrong is wrong. Acehnese people are quite objective in choosing leaders, based on their conscience, and not affected by negative news that corners their leaders.
During his time as President, Jokowi has built several important infrastructures in Aceh. The Banda Aceh-Sigli Toll Road is the first toll road in Aceh and was officially opened by President Jokowi during its construction period. In addition, in the economic field, Jokowi built the Aru Special Economic Zone (KEK) in Lhoksumawe. The At-Taqarub Mosque which was damaged by the Tsunami managed to stand firm again, and Jokowi’s STAI Al-Aziziyah was built.
Health facilities were filled with the construction of Pidie Jaya Hospital. On the other hand, to overcome the severe congestion, Banda Aceh City now has 884 meters of flyover which is very useful for the mobility of the work journey of the community. While in terms of processing waste, Aceh is building a Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) with a capacity of 3000 cubic meters using a pipe network with a diameter of 150-800 mm and installed in more than 8000 houses.
The Acehnese people proved to be more prosperous in the era of President Joko Widodo with the fulfillment of various means so that Aceh became more advanced. The Acehnese people really appreciated President Jokowi as his leader, especially Jokowi dared to accept the challenge of the Al-Qur’an reading test. As Acehnese people, we certainly want to see the miracle of President Jokowi’s real work. Its high mobility is able to reach areas in the end of the country that have not been glimpsed. We want Mr. Jokowi again.
- Student at Samudra Langsa University
