President calls on All Components to Maintain Pancasila

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has called on all components of the nation to maintain Pancasila (five principles) and unity through education and improvement of ideological values.

"Therefore, I call on clerics, priests, monks, teachers, educators, artists, media agency players, governments, military, and police to jointly maintain Pancasila," Widodo said here on Thursday.

The understanding of Pancasila should be improved. In addition, the implementation of values contained in the five principles should be conducted by the community.

The nation can implement Pancasila through religious lectures, educational materials, news focus, and discussions in social media.

The Head of State explained that the unity of the country would be tested by various challenges.

Intolerant attitudes toward the ideology of Pancasila are exacerbated by the misuse of social media, circulation of hoax, and hate speech.

"We must learn from the bad experiences of other countries that are haunted by radicalism, terrorism, social conflict, and civil war. We can avoid these problems through the implementation of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia ( NKRI) and Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Diversity in Unity)," the president remarked.

Jokowi earlier led a ceremony here on Thursday to commemorate the birth of Pancasila at the Pancasila Building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Through a presidential decree, Jokowi had in 2016 declared June 1 as the birth of Pancasila and confirmed that Pancasila Day would be a national holiday.

He declared Pancasila Day on June 1 as a national holiday to commemorate the birth of the state ideology: Pancasila.

Pancasila was introduced by first president Sukarno prior to Indonesia gaining independence on June 1, 1945.

During a speech at a meeting to prepare for Indonesias independence, Sukarno, at the time, stated that it took a solid foundation to be a strong independent nation, which he named Pancasila.

Jokowi, who acted as the ceremonial inspector to commemorate Pancasila Day on June 1, 2017, was accompanied by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

At the ceremony, Peoples Consultative Assembly Chairman Zulkifli Hasan read out the text of Pancasila, while Law and Human Rights Minister Yassona H. Laoly read out the Presidential Decree No.24/2016 on the confirmation of June 1 as a national holiday.

House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto thereafter read out the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution after which Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin led a prayer at the end of the ceremony.

Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, Minister/State Secretary Pratikno, Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, Regional Representative Council Chairman Oesman Sapta Odang, Constitutional Court Chairman Arief Hidayat, and Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo, among others, were present at the ceremony.(*)