Jakarta – As politicians from the older generation call for the strengthening of the state ideology Pancasila, members of the younger generation believe the sanctified five principles have failed to address the country's problems.

Fransisca Perwitasari, an 18-year-old student from Atma Jaya Catholic University, said that the government had failed to be led by the five principles when dealing with problems, especially those affecting the poor.

"Let's take the fifth principle, social justice for all the people, as an example. Do you think that the country's poor have justice?" Fransisca said. "Our lawmakers get huge salaries, but they ignore the plight of the poor. They have not created any programs to help people out of poverty," she added.

Astrid Vidya, a 17-year-old senior high school student, said people no longer live by Pancasila's values, especially when it comes to equality for minorities. "There are too many incidents of discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity," Astrid said.

Members of the younger generation certainly did not experience the rule of Soeharto's New Order, when Pancasila was imposed by coercion. It was taught in schools to forcibly embed the values of Pancasila in students. When the New Order fell in 1998, old ideologies repressed by Soeharto re-emerged and Pancasila became less relevant.

Recently, fears of radicalism have abounded with extremists preaching radical religious and political ideologies that threaten pluralism and tolerance. The growth of radicalism recently prompted politicians to call for a return to Pancasila.

Speaking during the 68th anniversary of Pancasila on Saturday, chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of first president Sukarno, who is credited with formulating the five principles, said younger generation were strangers to Pancasila.

Megawati said that the 32 year New Order rule had compromised the core values that Sukarno instilled in Pancasila. "Pancasila has become an alien objects to today's kids [...] and its basic teachings have disappeared from our lives," Megawati said in her speech.

Megawati called for a complete return to Pancasila as the only way to right contemporary wrongs. "We must use Pancasila as an ideology to guide this country to glory. We must work to make Pancasila a reality," she said.

Meanwhile, Vice President Boediono said in his speech in Ende, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), that Pancasila is indispensable to maintain pluralism.

"Diversity must be considered a gift; a responsibility. It must be nurtured well. Diversity must always be viewed in the context of unity. Indonesia is not only for Muslims or Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or Confucians. It is not only for those living in the western part nor is it only for those living in the eastern part," Boediono said, warning against a renewed push for an indoctrination of Pancasila as practiced under the New Order.

He suggested that Pancasila be implemented as practical day-to-day values for the people. In Ende, Boediono also inaugurated a statue of Sukarno, who spent his time in exile on the island formulating Pancasila. (ogi)