Pancasila for a Better Indonesia, President Jokowi Says

President Jokowi, former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, and Speaker of People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Zulkifli Hasan commemorate the birth of Pancasila, in Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday (1/6)

Indonesia with its national motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) can be an example for other countries in the efforts to promote tolerance amidst new challenges and the new world order.

During his working visit to the United States, and several countries in Europe, the Middle East, as well as Asia, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo said that many countries leaders had begun to worry as they have to face terrorism, extremism, and radicalism.

They are in a state of confusion as to how to manage their diversities; their tolerances and social solidarities fell apart, and it disrupts the countries’ orders. Hence, they seek for values as a reference to face those challenges, President Jokowi said during Bung Karno’s Speech Commemoration on Wednesday (1/6), at the Merdeka Building, Bandung, West Java.

“Indonesia is able to surmount those challenges because we have Pancasila as national ideology and other countries leaders admit it,” President Jokowi said.

Despite the fact that Indonesia is the largest Muslim population countries and consists of more than 17,000 islands with various ethnics and religions, the diversity is not an obstacle for the country to become a democratic country, President Jokowi added.

In fact, it promotes peace and tolerance.

“It is all because we have Pancasila, and we, as a nation, must be grateful for having it,” President Jokowi added.

Pancasila is the five principles of Indonesia, the national ideology, which is formulated by the Founding Father Bung Karno on 1 June 1945. Pancasila was formulated in the Jakarta Charter on 22 June 1945, and passed as the final draft on 18 August 1945.

“With Pancasila as the nation’s ideology, there is no reason for us to be pessimistic. We must be optimistic in facing the future; we must believe that we can overcome all challenges as we are becoming a better nation; we must be a champion in the global competition,” the President said.

Therefore, President Jokowi called on the people to always remember the speech of Bung Karno before the Indonesian Investigating Committee for the Preparation for Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI) on 1 June 1945.

The speech says: “Mutual cooperation (gotong-royong) is scrabbling together, sweating together, struggling together. All of us work for all’s interest, all of us sweat for all’s happiness. All of us march together to work for all’s interest. That is the key to become a winner”.

All Indonesians must know about Pancasila as the national principles and ideology, President Jokowi said.

The people must maintain and implement the values of Pancasila as the way of life, the President added.

Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, former Vice President Boediono, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, Speaker of People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Zulkifli Hasan, Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) Ade Komarudin, Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna M. Laoly, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Defence Ryamizard Ryacudu, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki, and Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Yuddy Chrisnandi also attending the event. (SM/OJI/ES) (RAS/EP/YM/Naster)