President Prabowo Subianto praised the speech of the 13th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ma'ruf Amin, which discussed Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which he considered brief but essential.
At the 27th Anniversary of the National Awakening Party (PKB) in Jakarta, Wednesday, Ma'ruf Amin, who is also the Chairman of the PKB DPP Shura Council, supported the government in implementing Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution which regulates that the natural resources contained therein are controlled by the state and used as much as possible for the prosperity of the people.
"I was very impressed with Professor Ma'ruf Amin's speech. It was short, not long, but very essential, very substantial, and very much to the heart of the matter," Prabowo said in his speech at the PKB anniversary celebration in Jakarta on Wednesday night.
Prabowo said that for decades, he had rarely heard comments from political figures, community leaders, or even economic experts who discussed the principle of utilizing natural resources as stipulated in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.
According to the Head of State, it was as if the article was never included in the 1945 Constitution, because not many figures discussed it.
Prabowo was even grateful that Article 33, which was almost removed during the amendment process to the 1945 Constitution, was cancelled.
"If we listen to the amendments to the original text of the 1945 Constitution, the amendments included Article 33. They wanted to remove Article 33. We're grateful it wasn't removed. This is a fundamental issue," Prabowo said.
The President explained that the 1945 Constitution was drafted by the nation's founding fathers from various groups, both nationalist and religious, who experienced colonialism and capitalism.
According to the President, imperialism and colonialism during the Dutch colonial period had sucked up Indonesia's natural resources which were then taken to his country.
"This is the essence. They experienced it, and they were intelligent people because of that experience. When they drafted the Constitution, they didn't want to be colonized again. That's why they included Article 33," Prabowo said.
Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which consists of four paragraphs, regulates the economic principles adopted by Indonesia, which include the following: "the land, water and natural resources contained therein are controlled by the state and used for the greatest prosperity of the people."
