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Pancasila: An ideology or something else?
A meaningful dialogue is required to help the country regain the genuine values of Pancasila as a way to draw a new social contract — something missing after the New Order.
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A meaningful dialogue is required to help the country regain the genuine values of Pancasila as a way to draw a new social contract — something missing after the New Order. (JP/File)
R
ecent demonstrations staged by Islamic organizations have triggered a series of heated public discussions on whether the state philosophy — Pancasila — is able to unify and steer the nation safely out of this tumultuous period.
There was no meaningful discourse about Pancasila when it went into dormant mode immediately after the New Order regime crumbled in 1998.
A thorough review of Pancasila is now timely, not to replace it but rather to try to reinstall it as a unifying state philosophy, which is acceptable to all in this diverse nation.
In order to have a meaningful debate, it first has to be admitted that Pancasila has a stained record. During the New Order regime it was exploited to silence opposition under the pretext of maintaining political stability and national security.
Those who challenged the government were conveniently labeled as “anti-Pancasila” to make them politically and legally dispensable.
Under the regime, the government monopolized the interpretation of Pancasila, leaving no room for any kind of dialogue. As time elapsed, regretfully Pancasila transformed itself from an ideology into a tool of suppression to stifle dissidents.
The recent debates on Pancasila have to be seen from this perspective. Probably out of their frustration, some have been brave enough to suggest that Indonesia would be better off if Pancasila was replaced by a caliphate, liberalism, or some other kind of leftist ideology.
