"Threat to our national integration has increasingly become real. We must thwart it as early as possible," General Gatot Nurmantyo said.
Balikpapan, E Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Chief of the National Defense Forces (TNI) General Gatot Nurmantyo has asked the entire Indonesian nation to protect the unity and integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia from possible foreign threat that may lead to national disintegration.

"Threat to our national integration has increasingly become real. We must thwart it as early as possible," he told participants during the second national leadership meeting of the Golkar Party here, Monday.

Indonesia is rich in natural resources, is strategically located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and has the second largest coastal lines in the world. So many countries have been eyeing it, he said.

Many countries are jealous of Indonesias natural wealth and potentials, and if the Indonesian nation is not cautious then there could be undesired developments, he added.

Some countries have broken into several countries, such as the Soviet Union into 15 states and Yugoslavia into seven states, he remarked.

"Other countries are torn apart, such as Afghanistan and Syria," he observed.

Indonesia is a heterogeneous country in terms of ethnic groups, languages and traditions, stretching from Sabang in the west to Merauke in the east, he noted.

If the differences are treated positively, then they will serve as mutually strengthening forces which will keep Indonesia intact, he asserted.

"Since Indonesia proclaimed its independence it has remained intact within the framework of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia, because it adopted Pancasila (five tenets) as its state ideology," he declared.

Gatot maintained that among the problems that threatened the Unitary Republic of Indonesia were drug trafficking, radicalism, terrorism and social media intervention.

Drugs can hasten the disappearance of potential generations, he stressed.

"Today nearly 5 million Indonesian citizens are drug addicts. It seems the number is just the tip of the iceberg as many drug abusers are not recorded," he affirmed.

He emphasized political parties, including Golkar Party, played a big role in encouraging the Indonesian nation to keep the unity and integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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