THE COMPATIBILITY OF ISLAM AND PANCASILA IN INDONESIA’S DECLINING DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The article addresses ambiguous politics-religion relations within resilient democratization. It specifically examines the relations between Islam and Pancasila as the nation’s civil religion in the transitioning Indonesian democratic reform from both philosophical and actor-centered viewpoints of the changing governmentsociety relations. The foci are twofold: first, the extent to which the national civil religion Pancasila retakes place in Indonesian political transition; and second, in what sense and in which ways religious movements might correspond to the national civil religion Pancasila in contemporary Indonesia’s democracy. It suggests that establishing Pancasila as a formal ideology imposed by anyone currently holding power may provoke risks of Indonesia’s democratization back to autocratization. While maintaining Pancasila as an open ideology is necessary to prevent that risk, openness in a political transition may also attract various interests. The recent decline of Indonesia’s democracy also prompts the necessity of constructive roles of civil society organizations in supporting resilient democratization in the country. Political turbulence that threatens democratization in Indonesia requires the independence of the established Muslim community organizations to build constructive power relations against but not be captured by the political regime.