Pancasila not in conflict with religion: Soeharto

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."