Indonesian President Invokes ‘Pancasila’ To Counter Rising Islamism
- 2018-09-10
- Religion News Service
Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, a moderate Muslim who enjoys widespread support from the country’s minority religious communities, is resurrecting the country’s founding secular ideology, known as “Pancasila,” as he aims to counter the growing forces of Islamism in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Pancasila, a term from old Javanese that roughly translates as “five precepts,” is a set of principles including “belief in the the One and Only God” and has historically been thought to demand respect for the country’s formally recognized religions – Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
Pancasila is more than just a rhetorical tool, however. Last July, Jokowi issued a perppu, a government regulation in lieu of law, instructing the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to disband groups that are anti-Pancasila.