Speaker of the Indonesian House Dr. (H.C.) Puan Maharani, accompanied by all Leaders of the House, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister, State Secretary Minister, Home Minister, Law and Human Rights Minister, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister, and Defense Minister holds a press conference on the Bill on the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education (BPIP) at the Parliamentary Compound, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (16/7/2020). Photo: Jaka/Man

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia Dr. (H.C.) Puan Maharani, accompanied by all Leaders of the Indonesian House, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister, State Secretary Minister, Home Minister, Law and Human Rights Minister, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister, and Defense Minister held a press conference on the Bill on the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education (BPIP). On that occasion, Maharani firmly stated that the Bill on BPIP submitted by the government had different essence from the Bill on Pancasila Ideology Guidelines (HIP).

“Leaders of the Indonesian House has just received the representatives of the government and the envoy of the President, led by the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister. They met with us to submit a Bill on BPIP, the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education. The bill will serve as an input for the Indonesian House to deliberate and accommodate concept in the bill. Public will also have the opportunity give input in the deliberation,” stated Maharani at the parliamentary compound, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (16/7/2020).

Maharani said that the concept of Bill on BPIP was different from the Bill on HIP. It contains the materials that have already existed in the Presidential Regulation on BPIP and will be put in the Bill on BPIP to promote their hierarchy.

“The bill submitted by the government contains the materials of the Bill on BPIP that consists of 7 chapters and 17 articles, and it is different from the Bill on HIP that consists of 10 chapters and 60 articles. The materials in the articles of the bill only contain the provisions on the duties, functions, authorities, and institutional structure of the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education. While the controversial articles, like the philosophy interpretation and the history of Pancasila, and some others, no longer exist,” she stressed.

In its considerations, added the politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly (MPRS) Decree No 25/1966 on the banning of Indonesian Communist Party and teachings of Communism, Marxism, and Leninism has already been included. She went on saying that the Indonesian House and the government have also agreed that the Bill on BPIP will not be deliberated immediately. They will give the public the opportunity to examine, provide input, advice and critics to the bill.

“The House will deliberate the BPIP Bill with the government if they have received sufficient input from all elements of the nation to ensure, once it is passed into law, it has strong foundation and meets the legal need of the public in the effort to foster the Pancasila ideology through BPIP,” Maharani stressed.

She hoped that after the Indonesian House and the government reached an agreement, all the conflicting thoughts and contentious disagreement in the past few weeks over the Bill on HIP could be ended. All elements could go back living in harmony and peace and work together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and all its following impacts.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD explained that his presence, along with the Minister of the State Secretariat, the Minister of the Home Affairs, the Minister of Law and Human Rights, the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, and the Minister of Defense, serves as the government’s representatives to deliver the Presidential Letter consisting of three documents, namely an official letter from the President, the Speaker of the House, and two existing attachments related to BPIP Bill.

“This bill originally responded to people’s development of understanding on the Pancasila ideology. Since the BPIP Bill introduces the issue of fostering Pancasila ideology, the MPRS Decree No 25/1966 will lay a solid foundation of the bill. Regarding the formulation of the Pancasila, we return to what was read out by the founding father Soekarno on 18 August, 1945. It is Pancasila which is now stated in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution, with five principles in one unity of meaning and one full and thorough understanding,” said Mahfud.

Mahfud emphasized that Pancasila, officially used and included in Chapter 1 Article 1 Point 1, is the one consisting of five principles, namely Belief in the one and only God, A just and civilized humanity, The unity of Indonesia, Democracy led by collective wisdom in representation, and Social justice for all the people of Indonesia.