YOGYAKARTA – Anies Baswedan has indicated that the idea of institutionalizing volunteer nodes into a political party or an organization is not a pressing agenda. Anies believes that volunteer nodes should rather tidy up their ranks without needing to be institutionalized.

This statement was conveyed by Candra Sosiawan, the Chair of Jarnas Central Java, while attending a community leaders meeting and Central Java volunteer node leaders with Anies Baswedan. The event was held at a hotel in Tembalang, Semarang City, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.

Candra mentioned that during the event, there were suggestions to house volunteer nodes in a new political party or organization.

“Mr. Anies replied that it is not easy to institutionalize volunteer nodes with such a large number of members,” Candra said when contacted on Thursday, May 30, 2024.

According to him, this grandson of National Hero AR Baswedan advised that volunteers should continue to organize themselves within their respective nodes. “It's better for volunteers to stay organized, rather than institutionalized but disorganized,” he revealed.

“Rather than being institutionalized and then encountering conflicts, it's better not to be institutionalized but to be organized. It's better for all nodes to keep moving, their direction of movement organized through those nodes,” he explained.

Candra said that what Anies mentioned about establishing a party or organization had already been discussed in several podcast episodes. “Perhaps the volunteers in Central Java wanted to hear it directly from Mr. Anies,” he revealed.

In principle, Candra noted, institutionalizing nodes into a political party or organization is not an urgent agenda.

“What’s more important is actually for the volunteers to continue organizing so that the fire of change remains lit, volunteer activities continue to explode in many places, tidy up the ranks of volunteer nodes, and others,” he clarified.

He mentioned that on that occasion, Anies also advised that volunteer nodes should continue to hold meetings, which need not be formal. “If the volunteers are well-organized and their ranks are neat, then that will be even better,” he said.