Pancasila is Final, Cabinet Secretary Says

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung (Photo by: Jay)

An advanced nation must have an ideology that binds it and Pancasila state ideology is a final consensus, according to Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.

“If there is any effort that seeks to replace the Pancasila ideology, we have to stop it. Pancasila is the final consensus,” Pramono said in the commemoration of Pancasila Day, which falls every 1 June, at the Cabinet Secretariat’s office, Jakarta, some time ago.

Our founding father, he added, took into account the country’s diversity in the formulation of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution as well as in the proclamation of this country. One example of the country’s diversity is language; Indonesia has more than 1,100 languages, he added.

“Then why the chosen (national) language is not the one used by the majority but the minority. Indonesian is the language of unity. The founder of the nation, especially Bung Karno and Bung Hatta saw that the language used by the minority must then become the unifying majority language,” he added.

Against this backdrop, further debate regarding the Pancasila ideology must be as the Government has officially declared the Pancasila Day on June 1 a national holiday and it is equivalent to the proclamation of independence, he added.

Pramono went on to say that Pancasila ideology and values must be internalized in our everyday lives, particularly students who must be taught that every citizen is different from his fellow brothers and sisters on a different island even though they are Indonesians.

“Pancasila can no longer be a slogan, nor a beautiful thing to read. It must be implemented in our everyday lives. The essential value of Pancasila is mutual cooperation and tolerance,” Pramono said, adding that it is the Pancasila ideology and values that made this nation stay united. (RSF/EN)

Translated by: Muhardi
Edited by: M. Ersan Pamungkas