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View all search resultsPancasila, again and always: Nostalgia and a longing for an ideal leader
At a market in Yogyakarta, a man sells stickers of Soeharto's portrait with a caption in Javanese roughly translated as 'Do you still remember the good times of my era?' The sticker is not ironic and it can be found frequently on the back of cars, trucks and motorcycles
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t a market in Yogyakarta, a man sells stickers of Soeharto's portrait with a caption in Javanese roughly translated as 'Do you still remember the good times of my era?' The sticker is not ironic and it can be found frequently on the back of cars, trucks and motorcycles.
In these images, Soeharto's portrait always shows him a chubby, senior figure, smiling contentedly and becak drivers may state, 'Those were the good ol' days', referring to the Soeharto era. Business was better, apparently.
There were fewer motorcycles and so more people needed becaks to get around. The cost of basic foods was cheaper and things seemed more predictable and stable.
This nostalgia is partly based on the sense of difference between the current era of reformasi and that of the New Order. Reformasi has been characterized, in part, by a more intense debate on ideology and political practices. The media is more open and more voices are being heard. These were some of the goals of reformasi which were successfully implemented.
The effort to curb corrupt practices, however, has clearly failed. Decentralization has proved problematic and another opportunity for corruption. Some elements of radical Islam, rather than being brought into a democratic and peaceful debate, have drawn on the power and urgency of the mob to pressure politicians. This is a tactic that, sadly, often achieves its aims.
Opinion articles and editorials frequently debate the ideal qualities of a leader. Numerous columnists speak of the need for a strong leader and one who understands the Constitution. Other columnists frequently assert the legitimacy of a constitution that expressly respects human rights, but regret the failure to implement religious freedom, for example. And yet, despite abuses of religious freedom increasing yearly (according to Wahid Institute and Setara Institute reports), the President can still be awarded the title of 'world statesman' for his promotion of tolerance and freedom. So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut might say.
The reform era is different in many ways from the New Order: There is a free (and sometimes wild) press and a boom in Indonesian cinema and popular culture, but also a boom in inter-religious violence and assertive Islamist politics.
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The elements of Pancasila are the key for Indonesia to develop and guide the nation in its progress
Many things have remained persistent, however. Contenders for the upcoming presidential election are not characterized by their reformist agenda. Most have their background within the political culture of the New Order. The Sidoarjo mudflow disaster is into its seventh year, and rather than being held to account, Aburizal Bakrie is running for president. So it goes, Vonnegut might say again. Reformasi struggles on in a bedraggled manner.
It is in this context that yet another debate on Pancasila has emerged. Perhaps a re-negotiation of the meaning and implementation of this grand narrative of the Indonesian nation will set things straight?
That is what many hope, and this notion has been strongly promoted through daily newspapers. Perhaps Pancasila might solve the problems of inter-communal and inter-religious violence? Perhaps a more successful inculcation of those five principles will turn corruptors into upstanding citizens?
Although its interpretation has changed over time, the five values of Pancasila are regarded as the essential values that unite the people of Indonesia.
Soeharto made it obligatory for all political parties and mass organizations to have his version of Pancasila as their sole ideological basis and vision. Pancasila was imposed upon society ' including by being articulated through movies and schoolbooks ' as a means to weaken and marginalize movements that promoted Islamic, regional or class solidarity.
The Pancasila of the New Order was one of repression and subordination; a means for silencing rather than opening up a critical discourse to critique supposedly universally-held values. The New Order was characterized by simplistic divisions between taboo and orthodox values: Leftist thought was marginalized to an extreme periphery, and developmentalism and Pancasilism were untouchable and pervasive. Islamist agendas were also considered threats to national stability.
That the New Order Pancasila was a vehicle for oppression is no matter for many commentators today. They insist that it holds the key to establishing and maintaining the distinctiveness of the Indonesian spirit. Emha Ainun Nadjib, for example, argues that Pancasila holds the key to avoiding both Westernization and Arabization. For Sri-Edi Swasono, Pancasila is a counter to the neoliberal ideology of SBY's presidency.
Soeharto's removal and the sudden rush to distance oneself from the New Order and its problematic politics (not to mention state violence) saw Pancasila lose some of its weight and credibility. There were some who saw it just as a fiction of the making of small political elite that had been disguised in comfortable terms but used for nefarious means.
Democratization, decentralization, reform provided a new framework for establishing political movement and enthusiasm. Lessons in Pancasila slipped from the national curriculum. Students would no longer be tested on their correct understanding of Pancasila values.
Yudi Latif, a renowned scholar and political thinker, is one intellectual who argues that it is time to change this. He says that the key to solving Indonesia's current problems lies squarely with Pancasila.
In a speech to mark the birth of Pancasila, he argues that 'Elections have been held, billions of dollars have been splashed around, regimes have come and gone, parties are emerging all the time, but, there is still no clarity.
This is caused by inconsistency, betrayal and a lack of clarity from the nation's leaders. It is now the time to return to our home: Pancasila. Apart from containing the elements that can unite the Indonesian nation, the elements of Pancasila are the key for Indonesia to develop and guide the nation in its progress'.
Fifteen years of reform seems like long-enough to make a judgment about its progress. It has proven long enough to forget about some of the troubles with the New Order era. And those who long for the past they symbolize with a chubby, smiling Soeharto are perhaps longing for something that has never been all that distant. With a bit of luck for them, perhaps Prabowo Subianto ' the archetypal New Order leftover ' will be the next president. Such a presidency will quickly ease any sense of nostalgia.
The writer is a researcher at Kunci Cultural Studies Center, Yogyakarta.
