Pancasila not in conflict with religion: Soeharto

By Santi WE Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Loyalty towards the state ideology Pancasila does not require a negation of people's adherence to their religions, President Soeharto told thousands of Muhammadiyah members yesterday.

Opening the 43rd congress of the reformist Moslem organization, Soeharto said that Indonesian Moslems, who live in "a state which upholds Pancasila, continue to maintain Islam as the source of their values and spiritual wealth, which never runs dry."

Pancasila consists of the following five tenets: belief in God, humanitarianism, national unity, rule by consensus and social justice. Derived from this ideology, a number of concepts have evolved, including that of "Pancasila democracy".

"Our commitment to reaffirm Pancasila as the sole ground of our life as a community, a nation...does not by any means override the religious teachings that we all hold, respect and honor," he told the gathering of about 10,000 people at the Haji Dimurtala Stadium.

Indonesia has made "faith the basic principle of the Broad State Guidelines" for national development, he said.

"Faith...is the first principle underlying our national development," he said. "The development effort is not only a pursuit of material wealth...it's also a form of worship and an effort to seek God's blessing."

The festivity, though somewhat stiff, was also attended by First Lady Tien Soeharto, high ranking officials, including Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher and foreign envoys. Hundreds of students performed Seudati traditional dances, while hundreds of others sang songs for the dignitaries.

The congress, which is being attended by some 4,000 Muhammadiyah leading members from across the country, will discuss the role of the organization in national development in the coming century.

"We have to think seriously about the direction we're going to take...We should remember that the 21st century is only five years away," he said.

The opening ceremony was marked by a minor incident when a man in boy scout uniform ran across the field, yelling that he wanted to meet Bapak (father) President Soeharto, several minutes before the President arrived. The man was briskly whisked away by security personnel.

The Muhammadiyah congress is being held simultaneously with the congresses of Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiyah, respectively the women's and young women's wings of the organization. Some 40,000 Moslems have flocked the city over the past week to attend the gathering.

After formally opening the congress, Soeharto made an off-the- cuff remark about his ties with the organization, to loud cheers from the participants.

"Personally, I wish to extend my gratitude towards Muhammadiyah because, very frankly, I was a 'seed' of the organization planted in Indonesia and, thank God, have been trusted by the people to lead the nation's development," he said.

"I'm hoping that all that I've been doing has not let the Muhammadiyah family down," he said, to which hundreds of people promptly answered, assuring him that he had not.

Before World War II Soeharto was a student of a Muhammadiyah junior high school in Yogyakarta, Central Java. To date, the organization has established more than 13,000 educational institutions, from kindergartens to universities.

In his speech yesterday, Soeharto also praised Muhammadiyah's spirit of independence, instilled by leading members during the time of colonialism. "This independence should be built upon in the current development age," he said.

Later on in the day, Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., Armed Forces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung and Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief also addressed the gathering, which was presided over by Muhammadiyah Chairman Amien Rais.

In his own speech, Amien Rais said Moslems should appreciate current progress, while still adopting a critical stance regarding various shortcomings in the development scene.

The shortcomings, he said, included social gaps, monopolistic practices, human rights abuses, poor law enforcement and "glitches" in democratization.

He said that, were he to grade the current New Order administration, he would give it "a score of 7.8, accompanied by a note that those weaknesses should be corrected."