Calls are again mounting for the government to disband mass organizations considered to have orientations opposed to the state ideology of Pancasila, amid concerns about the growing influence of intolerant groups in the country.

But Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto promised on Friday that the government would not act hastily in disbanding any organization and would seek to strike a balance between freedom of assembly and law enforcement against violent groups.

“The government will continue to take legal action, but, rest assured, we will not turn authoritarian,” he said.

He played down the growing calls for the government to crackdown on vigilante mass organizations, saying that such actions would require making an amendment to the 2013 Mass Organizations Law, which contained many important elements that needed to be weighed up against each other.

The law bans any group from, among other things, inciting hatred, committing blasphemous or violent acts and disrupting public order and national stability, such as promoting separatism.

However, it does not contain any articles that clearly define what makes an organization anti-Pancasila.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly has proposed that groups that promote radicalism be considered as anti-Pancasila, highlighting the fact that the current legislation only mentions Marxism and Leninism as contradictory to Pancasila values.

“We will expand the definition of anti-Pancasila in the revision [of the Mass Organization Law] because groups that are violent and destructive to the nation are clearly violating Pancasila.”

But some lawmakers have rejected the proposal, accusing the minister of trying to disband the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), a notorious hard-line group many consider to be anti-Pancasila.

Lukman Edy, a politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB), argued that the FPI was a pro-Pancasila group because it cited Pancasila in its internal regulations.

“Therefore, the FPI is not anti-Pancasila, but organizations such as HTI [Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia] are, “Lukman said. “HTI does not mention anything about Pancasila as well as the 1945 Constitution in its own constitution,” he added.

House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah also criticized Yasonna’s proposal, saying that disbanding the FPI was not the answer as the problem was weak law enforcement.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, through presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki, has ordered firm law enforcement against intolerant groups.

Upholding the law equally may deter vigilante groups, but clear rules are also essential to ensure the law can be upheld equally, particularly due to the failure of law enforcement in handling such violence or religion-driven incidents in the past, said anthropologist Yando Zakaria.

The Blasphemy Law, he said, is an example of an ambiguous legal guideline that was seemingly often used as the legal basis to discriminate against minorities in the country.

“Freedom of association is recognized by our Constitution. It is [violent] actions that need [stern] law enforcement which is implemented based on clear rules of the game,” Yando said.

In the past few months, Jokowi has been ramping up soft approaches, encouraging people to implement Pancasila principles in their daily lives as a way of countering growing intolerance, particularly against the backdrop of two recent massive Muslim protests against blasphemy.

His administration recently considered the formation of a presidential working unit to instill Pancasila values in the diverse nation, the latest addition to two other similar programs: Revolusi Mental (mental revolution) and Bela Negara (voluntary state defense training). No details have been revealed yet on the planned Pancasila working unit, which was initiated by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan.

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