Revolutionizing Pancasila as the ideology of Indonesians

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Becoming an independent country has long been the big dream of all Indonesian people. For three hundred and fifty years, the area known as Nusantara was repeatedly colonized by several foreign countries. The desire to become an independent nation in order to manage its natural and human resources without interference from other nations made the young leaders of the Indonesian movement continue to struggle.

Until one day, after the great Japan’s defeat from the West, Indonesia got a chance to become independent. After the proclamation of independence on August 17, 1945, many countries recognized the de facto independence of Indonesia. That date became the forerunner of the Independence Day commemorated every year. However, Indonesia’s independence is not the ultimate goal but a means to achieve the goals and aspirations of becoming a just and prosperous country [26].

Every country has an ideology. Before the proclamation of independence, national leaders — members of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI) — considered the importance of the state foundation as a guide for the nation and state. It was agreed that Pancasila was the ideology for establishing the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia. Pancasila becomes an ideology, insight, a view of life, the philosophy of the nation and the state [2]: to ensure a just and prosperous society, all agreed to implement Pancasila in every aspect, including in daily public and community policies, economic conditions, politics, national security, and so on [29]. The national objective of the Republic of Indonesia is stated in the fourth paragraph of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution: “to protect the entire Indonesian nation and the entire homeland of Indonesia and to promote public welfare, educate the nation’s life and participate in carrying out world order based on independence, eternal peace, and social justice”.

Pancasila and the unity of the nation

According to the first President of Indonesia, Ir. Soekarno or Bung Karno, Pancasila is Weltanschauung and at the same time Philosophische grondslag [32]. Weltanschauung is congruent with the philosophy that is united in ideology, such as of Friedrich Engels. The term Pancasila was introduced in Bung Karno’s speech on June 1, 1945 [14]. The history of the conceptualization of Pancasila passed through a long series of ‘nursery’, ‘formulation’ and ‘ratification’ phases. For instance, the ‘nursery’ phase started in the 1920s as pioneering ideas and movements along with the process of ‘discovering’ a shared national code (civil nationalism) in Indonesia [17]. Then Pancasila entered the ‘formulation’ phase marked by the trial of the BPUPKI. Its members began to work on May 28, 1945 and finished on June 1, 1945. On the last day of the BPUPKI session, Sukarno formulated five principles of Pancasila: nationality, consensus, humanity, social welfare, and divinity with culture, i.e., social-nationalism, social-democracy, and divinity [3]. Based on these principles, the agreement was reached in the Preamble to the Basic Law. The five precepts include: Ketuhanan, dengan kewajiban menjalankan syariat Islam bagi pemeluk-pemeluknya — God, to carry out Islam’s religion (shari’a) for its adherents; Kemanusiaan yang adil dan beradab — just and civilized humanity; Persatuan Indonesia — the unity of Indonesia; Kerakyatan yang dipimpin oleh hikmat kebijaksanaan dalam permusyawaratan perwakilan — Democracy led by wisdom in deliberation or representation; Keadilan sosial bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia — social justice for all Indonesian people. The small group of founding fathers later formulated the Pancasila version of the Jakarta Charter (Piagam Jakarta) on June 22, 1945 [15].

However, this Pancasila was not final due to the sound of first precepts. The precepts of God with the obligation to carry out Islamic law for its adherents were originally proposed for the religious groups who wanted the Islamic Indonesian state. The basis for naming Shari’a is the law, norms and moral system that serve as a measure and underlie the relationship between the state and individuals, religion and believers [12]. This is different from the western secular legal system which recognizes the principle of separation between the state and community affairs, the state and religion, and the normative order of the Shari’a determines the whole life of the believer. As the totality of God’s commands determine human actions, the Shari’a includes all conditions of life, religious cultic orders, and juridical and political rules. The use of the word shari’a which refers to the Islamic law is opposed by nonMuslim figures based on the idea that Indonesia is a multicultural and multireligious country, and it would be counter-productive to have Pancasila referring only to one religion [10]. In addition, according to them, the first precept implies an imposition on legal and political fundamentalism that discredits other religions. Therefore, one of the founding fathers and the first vice President of Indonesia, Mohammad Hatta, provided a solution for the debate between Islamic and national groups — to change the first principle to Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa — belief in one supreme God, since Indonesia is both sovereign and godly society. The ‘ratification’ started on August 18, 1945, in the session of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) — with the final legal formulation [17]]. Pancasila, as stated in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, reads as follows: “Then from that to form an Indonesian State Government that protects the entire Indonesian nation and the entire homeland of Indonesia and to promote public welfare, educate the nation’s life, and participate in carrying out world order based on independence, eternal peace, and social justice, National Independence was drawn up. Indonesia is in a Constitution of the State of Indonesia, which is formed in a structure of the Republic of Indonesia which is sovereign by the people based on the One Supreme Godhead, Just and Civilized Humanity, Indonesian Unity and Democracy led by wisdom in Deliberation/Representation, and by realizing social justice for all Indonesian people” [17].

The meaning of Pancasila as the basis of the state

Pancasila as the basis of the hierarchical-pyramidal state is a unified whole. The precepts of Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa / God Almighty are the foundation in the hierarchy from the second to the fifth precepts, which is clearly different from other state ideologies such as liberalism or communism: Pancasila recognizes and protects the rights of both individuals and communities both in the economic and political fields [3; 4]. Pancasila as the source of all sources of law, the source of basic national law, is above the 1945 Constitution as the Fundamental State Principles [9].

This is reinforced in Article 2 of Law No. 12 of 2011 on the Establishment of Legislation: “Pancasila is the source of all sources of state law”. The legal norm explicitly states that Pancasila is the basis of the state including the government and state regulations [7] (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. The pyramid of Pancasila as the source of all laws [24]

Historically, the five precepts of Pancasila are a synthesis of the diversity of beliefs, understandings and hopes of all elements of the Indonesian nation. The first precept is a synthetic formulation of all religions and beliefs. The second precept is a synthetic formulation of all transnational social-human understandings and ideals. The third precept is a synthetic formulation of ethnic diversity (aspirationidentity) in national unity. The fourth precept is a synthetic formulation of all notions of sovereignty. The fifth precept is a synthetic formulation of all notions of socialeconomic justice. Ideological trilogy underpins the five pillars of Pancasila: religious ideology, nationalism and socialist ideology. The three have points of difference but can find common ground in three basic principles — social-religious, socialnationalistic, and social-democratic. Social democracy is a religious principle that is generous, compassionate, and means the spirit of “cultured divinity, divinity of noble character, divinity of mutual respect” — the content of the first precept. Social-nationalism is the principle of the generous nationality, a compassionate national spirit that upholds inner and outer humanity, leads to unity and brotherhood — a combination of the second and third precepts. Social democracy is oriented towards social justice, which demands participation and emancipation in both political and economic fields (political and economic democracy) [11] — a combination of the fourth and fifth precepts.

Based on the previous explanation, all these precepts are also united by the principles of compassion, generosity, and brotherhood. President Soekarno named this spirit gotong royong — a more dynamic understanding than kinship, the feeling of trying to achieve common interests [24].

In addition, Pancasila is a guideline for the movement of the people, nation and state in the future. Soekarno named Pancasila Leitstar — the Guiding Star, as the basis of philosophy, worldview, basic principles, and ideology of the Indonesian state. Every country has a Weltanschauung: Hilter founded Germany on the Nationalsozialistische Weltanschauung, Lenin founded the Soviet Union on the Marxistische, Historisch Materialistiche Weltanschauung, Nippon founded the state in Tenno Koodo Seisin, Ibn Saud founded the state of Saudi Arabia on the Weltanschauung based on Islam like Iran; Sun Yat-Sen founded an independent China on the Weltanschauung of San Min Chu I — Mintsu, Minchuan, Minsheng (nationalism, democracy, socialism) [17].

From ideals and reality

In 2021, we conducted a survey of 1200 Indonesians (a 95 % confidence level) to find out how they understand the concept of defending the country and the level of community satisfaction with the direction of the Indonesian struggle. Is the independence that was so fought for is in accordance with the 1945 Constitution or goes in the wrong direction? 81 % still think that in the right direction, 17 % — in the wrong direction (not in accordance with the 1945 Constitution). It is necessary to understand the indications of the ideology of liberalism or even Marxist– communism in order to predict the potential dangers that threaten the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia [35]. In addition to the widening ideology of liberalism, incentives for fundamentalism can occur given the banned organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), which wants Indonesia to become an Islamic state. The source of someone becoming a fundamentalist is rooted in the ignorance of the basic values  of Pancasila and not understanding of national insight. As a result, the people chose not to be loyal to Pancasila as the basis of the state, wanted to make Shari’a the basis of the state and political law, and to change all political contracts formed over the years by eliminating Pancasila as the source of all laws.

The State Defense Survey measures whether the current state of national security is in accordance with the ideals of the 1945 Constitution and our Constitution to promote the independence and sovereignty of the country: 58.7 % assessed it moderately, 30.5 % — rather well, 7.4 % — very bad (Fig. 2). Satisfaction with this aspect of democracy needs to be targeted in order to increase the level of satisfaction with democracy and to achieve the ideals of a sovereign nation. We do not want Indonesia to fall into the abyss of liberalism and we admit the importance of government control for not letting the society turn’ towards Marxist– Communist. Therefore, it is important for the community to support the values of local wisdom in the development of the Indonesian national identity. Thus, in February 2022, most people rejected the discourse of extending the president’s term of office to three terms: 89 % of respondents did not agree with this discourse [31]. The level of satisfaction with the current state of the national economy is shown on Figure 3: 57.9 % express moderate satisfaction, 23.7 % — feel rather good and 16.8 % — rather bad.

Fig. 2. The current state of national security

Fig. 3. National economic conditions

Today the problem that threatens the society the most is the covid-19 pandemic — 39.5 %. employment — 21.4 %, education — 4.3 %, corruption of political elites — 4.3 %, foreign influence on the national culture and local culture — 4 %, natural disasters (floods, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.) — 2.9 %, potential for SARA conflicts due to poor tolerance between religious communities — 2.6 %; hate speech in the Internet — 2.5 %; rampant crime and drug distribution — 1.8 %; radicalism and terrorism in the name of religion — 1 %, and so on.

The biggest potential risk from the covid-19 pandemic is the narrowing job opportunities: many people lose their jobs, and massive layoffs occur because companies cannot survive with the temporarily suspended operational conditions due to following government instructions. Meanwhile, working from home (WFH) was introduced in the work system together with learning from home (LFH) by optimizing digital technology and remote interaction [23]. However, remote work systems cannot always be easily accepted especially by those with low and limited technological knowledge and expertise. This is a big obstacle for companies because they cannot coordinate directly and rely on technological devices. On the one hand, since people are widely using digital technology, new digital talents emerge and are more attached to foreign cultures (such as the youth’s fondness of Korean films) than to their own local culture [22]. Westernization is a ‘parasite’ eroding the love to one’s culture and contributing to the destruction of national culture in Indonesia [21].

The collapse of nationalism and love to homeland is no longer a figment, there is an emergence of radicalism and conflicts due to religious intolerance, because people have forgotten the diversity of the Indonesian culture, and the younger generation has begun to forget their traditional culture. Conflicts based on intolerance or radicalism are not new. The divine aspect is misused to trigger riots and prolonged conflicts under the pretext of certain interests including political ones. For instance, in the 2017 Pilkada, the 2014 and 2019 Presidential Election, there were many debates ignoring humanitarian aspects. Digitization not only changes cultural habits but also encourages high emotions rather than rationality of thinking. Low emotional control and ignorance of diversity make people unable to control their emotions in the content posted on social media.

In addition to radicalism, the potential risk of hoaxes grows concerning the state defence of the government. On the one hand, the actual state defence program aims at fostering a sense of love to homeland and nationalism together with containing hoaxes that can divide the nation. The circulation of hoaxes, especially in the current cyber era, is a crucial phenomenon in the Indonesian context considering that more than a half of Indonesians are active Internet users and a part of the virtual world population.

When asked how appropriate Pancasila is as the nation’s ideology, 89 % of Indonesians consider it eligible and decent as the ideology of the state; less than 10 % of respondents doubt Pancasila, while the rest still considers it as a proper working ideology. Furthermore, 57.6 % consider the level of the implementation of Pancasila as good, 25 % — as very good (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Implementation of Pancasila as the ideology of the Indonesian nation

Revolutionizing Pancasila

Although the implementation of Pancasila has been going well, the reality has the potential to weaken it, which we face today. Economic problems can make people more pragmatic and no longer caring about ideological aspects. Not to mention the technology that removes barriers between cultures and makes it easier for other ideologies to infiltrate the minds of the Indonesian people, be it fundamentalism, liberalism, or communism.

Pancasila is the source of all laws including the state constitution. Law as a central control facility no longer acts as an effort to reconcile and re-adjust the bonds between citizens. Pancasila is the origin for every lawmaker in Indonesia to take or to draw the essential elements or to find provisions for future legal regulations — learning from the methods of the jurist from the time of the Roman Empire [36], when the national law was constructed and recorded to coincide with the decline of the authority of the church with its canonical law, as well as from the collapse of the power in the Roman empire. Long ago, the national political power sought a new legal authority with a reformative nature. In this perspective implementing the essence of Pancasila becomes even more important because Pancasila is a guide for attitudes and actions which are coded in laws, government regulations, presidential decrees, and so on. “No nation can achieve its greatness if that nation does not believe in something and if what it believes in does not have the moral dimensions to sustain a great civilization. This is the importance of Pancasila as the basis of ideology, namely ideas that lead to the discovery of knowledge or theory. In addition, by believing in and building trust in a nation, it also aims to increase the development goals’ potential [5]. In addition, Pancasila, as the basis of the state, has become a force based on social power, namely the struggle of the Indonesian people [6].

The spirit of the Pancasila revolution has to be reinvigorated because the application of Pancasila should be sustainable. The etymological meaning of ‘revolution’ comes from the word ‘to revolve’ which means ‘back again’ — a constant in change, continuous repetition that makes the end and the beginning. Therefore, the values  of Pancasila have to be applied at every opportunity [30]. In history, we passed through several revolutions — from cognitive and agricultural to industrial and technological. Revolution runs continuously and gives birth to new things that we enjoy today due to the accelerated change. So, the term ‘revolution’ essentially does not imply ‘newness’. According to Hanna Arendt, the term revolution relates to the course of history immediately starting something new; revolution implies a new story, a story that was never known before, or there was no previous story [1]. Yudi Latif believes in the importance of igniting the fire of revolution to navigate the dynamics, romance and logic of the revolution, which is in line with the philosophy and worldview of the Indonesian nation [15], i.e., we need a national revolution to ‘revolutionize Pancasila’. Pancasila is not a sufficient tool for unity but rather a catalyst for radical reforms materially, mentally, and politically, a catalyst for realizing social justice for all Indonesian people.

The Pancasila revolution was different from the French revolution based on the value of individualism, which later produced a capitalist republic and a modern democracy in the western world. In its development, the revolution only benefited the bourgeoisie and left the commoners behind. The nature of the Pancasila revolution was different from the Russian Bolshevik revolution of 1917 [34]. The revolution of the proletariat, who aspired to build a socialist society through class struggle, eliminated the bourgeois-capitalist class, which led to the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Pancasila revolution is different from the Arab Spring revolution which required the democratization of the monarchical system [38].

The Pancasila revolution does not emphasize the materialism aspect. The ideals of the fifth precept enable people to free themselves from the prison of materialism in the spirit of the humane divinity. In short, the Pancasila revolution is not a bourgeois or proletarian revolution, but a revolution of conscience and humanity. By relying on the transcendent and absolute, people can view immanent material as something relative, which can be shared altruistically. This reflects the nature of humanity, social beings, and at the same time of individuals who want social justice, collective independence (nation) and individual independence (citizens) [37].

Yudi Latif proposed the goal of the Pancasila revolution (state independence) in the second paragraph of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia — a national and civil life “which is independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous” (material and spiritual), based on the Pancasila values [17]: national revolution aims to liberate the nation from all forms of imperialism and colonialism in order to create a truly independent and sovereign nation; political revolution aims at a fundamental overhaul of the feudalistic and colonialist political system into a people democracy guided by wisdom (Pancasila); economic revolution aims to create an independent, just, prosperous economic system; social revolution aims to overturn the discriminatory social structure of feudalistic and capitalistic society into a Pancasilaist society that is egalitarian, with the spirit of national unity that transcends individual and group interests; cultural revolution aims to destroy the remaining forms of imperialistic and capitalistic culture and replace them with a new, more emancipatory and progressive culture in accordance with the noble personality of the Indonesian nation.

The Pancasila revolution requires revolutionary forces with wise souls as wide as the ocean and as high as the mountains to achieve all these goals [33]. This revolution should start from the example of the national leaders — president, vice president, ministers, governors, mayors, and regents. They must become role models for the community, a representation of a true Pancasilaist. If the leaders would not show their identity as Pancasilaists, we cannot expect such an identity from the people [19]. The responsibility of the nation’s leaders is to improve aspects of development, especially national one, — to improve the community’s quality and standard of living in all aspects of life [27]. The values of the national development imply raising up responsible and humane citizens and to foster equity in development and its results, which would create a sense of solidarity, community participation will arise to carry out development efforts in common interests, which would increase self-confidence. Furthermore, the nation’s independence will grow supported by nationalism and patriotism [27].

Thus, independence, which is expected to be a golden bridge to life that is free, united, sovereign, just and prosperous, will soon become a nightmare if the nation is oppressed, divided, controlled by foreign nations, suffers from deep social inequality and poverty. The basic question of new generations is whether the government will manage to fulfil the obligations of the 1945 Constitution. Every principle/percept of Pancasila reflects the idea of teaching attitudes, knowledge and insight. It is referred to as a source of the state law that is sovereign, just and supports the ideology of nationalism and democracy (philosophy of the state, personality of the Indonesian nation, worldview, ideals and goals of the Indonesian nation, the state ideology, the source of all laws, and the soul of the Indonesian nation). Therefore, Pancasila became the basis for fighting various kinds of deviations such as radicalism, communism and corruption, and for realizing social justice that ensures human rights and movement towards a just and prosperous society.

About the authors

M. A. Muqsith

Author for correspondence.
Email: munadhil@upnvj.ac.id
Jl. RS Fatmawati Raya, Pd. Labu, District. Celinda, Depok City, West Java 12450, Indonesia

V. L. Muzykant

Email: vmouzyka@mail.ru
Mikluho-Maklaya St., 6, Moscow, 117198, Russia

R. G. Tayibnapis

Email: raditagora@upnvj.ac.id
Jl. RS Fatmawati Raya, Pd. Labu, District. Celinda, Depok City, West Java 12450, Indonesia

R. R. Pratomo

Email: rizkyridho0897@gmail.com
Jl. RS Fatmawati Raya, Pd. Labu, District. Celinda, Depok City, West Java 12450, Indonesia

References

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1. Fig. 1. The pyramid of Pancasila as the source of all laws [24]

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2. Fig. 2. The current state of national security

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3. Fig. 3. National economic conditions

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4. Fig. 4. Implementation of Pancasila as the ideology of the Indonesian nation

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