Political parties (parpols) must promote the culture of critical thinking and present science-based novelty in the process of development. Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)Lestari Moerdijathas urged political parties to promote a culture of critical thinking, which would involve dialectics between institutions, including regional governments, to achieve the development goal."Political parties must promote the culture of critical thinking and present science-based novelty in the process of development," she said, according to a written statement released in Jakarta on Saturday. She made the statement while delivering a speech at the opening of a technical assistance event with the theme "Synergy of Political Parties in Regional Development" in Surakarta, Central Java, on Friday evening (May 19, 2023). ccording to Moerdijat, the views on the concept of political party have been subject to change every now and then. In 1770, she said, the Irish philosopher and economist Edmund Burke described a political party as a group that unites men and women who share the same political ideas for the sake of national interest. People belonging to such a group would share the same values, interests, and backgrounds that, in turn, would help them to accommodate differences and similarities so that they can walk together toward a single goal, she added. Later, at the dawn of the 20th century, the concept of a political party shifted to one of an elite organization with a set of complex political systems, she noted. In fact, in the context of regional development, political parties should accommodate national interests, not only by developing physical infrastructures, but also by developing the quality of human resources, she said. "Therefore, political parties should be able to serve as institutions that play the role of honing political reason by implementing vision and ideology-based learning, promoting the culture of critical thinking, and presenting science-based novelty," she added. In her statement, the MPR deputy speaker also reiterated that the political parties should work as forums for building social awareness on national interests by prioritizing the people as the holders of the country's sovereignty.

Source: Antara News Agency