President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed a government regulation in lieu of law, or Perppu, on Monday (10/07) that will expand the power of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to disband groups that espouse ideologies contradictory to values enshrined in the state ideology, Pancasila. The Perppu, named No. 2/2017, widens the government's ability to dismantle mass organizations deemed as threats to national security and national unity, previously outlined in Law No. 17/2013 on Mass Organizations.
The new regulation has been met with positive responses by many moderate Muslim groups in the country, who have praised Jokowi for taking a tangible steps to diminish the influence of hardliners that could threaten the nation's unity. The new regulation is aimed at revising parts of the 2013 law, though it will first need to be approved by the House of Representatives before it passes into law, which could take months.
However, rights activists also expressed concern that the new regulation might in fact be undemocratic and prone to abuse, saying other non-violent organizations might be shut down in the future without a valid legal process.
Previously in May, the government announced plans to dismantle Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamic organization seeking to establish a caliphate on Indonesian soil, on grounds of anti-Pancasila activities. This week's new Perppu is expected to end legal uncertainties over that process and to help the government tackle similar extremist groups in the future.
HTI is the local chapter of Hizbut Tahrir, an international organization aimed at establishing a pan-Islamic theocracy in the Muslim world by removing existing, pluralist governments, whether by coercion or other means.
HTI has been present in Indonesia since the 1980s and has largely been a campus-based movement with well-attended meetings and rallies, though the organization has been banned in several countries already.
The government's move drew support from the two largest Muslim organizations in the country - Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah - in the hopes that Islamist extremism, which has been on the rise in the country over the past few years, will take a back seat to their more moderate religious views.
As many as 14 mass Muslim organizations, including NU, were previosuly united in a coalition named the Islamic Mass Organization Friendship (LPOI) that officially requested the government to issue a Perppu to ban organizations that contravene the values enshrined in Pancasila.
The organizations include Nahdlatul Ulama, the Islamic Union (Persis), Al-Irsyad, Al-Islmiyah, Arrobithoh Al-Alawiyah, Association of Indonesian Chinese Muslims (Piti), Mathlaul Anwar, Attihadiyah, Azikra, Al-Wasliyah, Islamic Preacher Association (Ikadi), Syariakat Islam Indonesia, Union of Islamic Education (Perti) and Board of Da'wah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDI).
NU, the statement said, "fully supports" the new regulation that is expected to expedite the legal process of organizational bans while still upholding constitutional rights. "It is like a cancer cell, the rate of spreading is so rapid, so proper and prompt treatment is required, including through the legal approach," Robikin said about the spread of hardline Islamist groups in the country. Meanwhile, the chairman of the youth wing of Muhammadiyah, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, said the planned ban on HTI was "valid for the sake of maintaining national unity." "As long as it is imposed constitutionally," Dahnil added.
The Brilliant Moves Must be Supported
Eventhough HTI immediately vowed to fight back against the Perppu, which has also sparked protest from human rights groups that say the measure could threaten Indonesia's hard-won democracy. Some of pundits said the government regulation in lieu of law is the brilliant moves so that its must be supported by all of Indonesian people.
Being admitted or not, amid in the democratization process in Indonesia, we have a several seriously problems such as an intolerance spirit has been spreading at several provinces; the practice of an identity political to gain pragmatical and political purposes; Raising terrorist cell and radical groups which endangering the unity of Indonesia including pluralism and multiculturalism; Continuing the efforts of anti Pancasila groups or mass organization to promote their ideology and political doctrine; A strong indication about the efforts of new communist generation to purge their organization image and last but not least the existing of arm-rebellion group in Papua and Central Sulawesi.
Every above problem is a serious, basic and strategically for the safetiness of Indonesia because of that the government must be taken firmly action to solve all of those problems through the government right to manage this country.
Its a time for a moderate Islamic mass organization, academia, NGO activist and mass media to support whatever has been decided by our government because the existence of anti-Pancasila mass organization, a communist group, radical group etc are "clear and present danger" for the unity and safetiness of Indonesia youth future.
Since the founding fathers had been declared until now all of national stakeholders have been agreed that a national interest must be prioritized comparing with a group interest, and we had accorded that our national ideology is Pancasila, the fundamental law of Indonesia is UUD 1945 and our togetherness slogan is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, so that whoever, whatever and whenever an individual or groups have a feud feeling to Pancasila, UUD 1945 and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika spirit, it must be dissolutioned, dismantled and forbidden to be develop in Indonesia. Hopefully.
*) The author is a strategic issues observer. Lives in Depok, West Java.
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Megapolitan 2017
The new regulation has been met with positive responses by many moderate Muslim groups in the country, who have praised Jokowi for taking a tangible steps to diminish the influence of hardliners that could threaten the nation's unity. The new regulation is aimed at revising parts of the 2013 law, though it will first need to be approved by the House of Representatives before it passes into law, which could take months.
However, rights activists also expressed concern that the new regulation might in fact be undemocratic and prone to abuse, saying other non-violent organizations might be shut down in the future without a valid legal process.
Previously in May, the government announced plans to dismantle Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamic organization seeking to establish a caliphate on Indonesian soil, on grounds of anti-Pancasila activities. This week's new Perppu is expected to end legal uncertainties over that process and to help the government tackle similar extremist groups in the future.
HTI is the local chapter of Hizbut Tahrir, an international organization aimed at establishing a pan-Islamic theocracy in the Muslim world by removing existing, pluralist governments, whether by coercion or other means.
HTI has been present in Indonesia since the 1980s and has largely been a campus-based movement with well-attended meetings and rallies, though the organization has been banned in several countries already.
The government's move drew support from the two largest Muslim organizations in the country - Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah - in the hopes that Islamist extremism, which has been on the rise in the country over the past few years, will take a back seat to their more moderate religious views.
As many as 14 mass Muslim organizations, including NU, were previosuly united in a coalition named the Islamic Mass Organization Friendship (LPOI) that officially requested the government to issue a Perppu to ban organizations that contravene the values enshrined in Pancasila.
The organizations include Nahdlatul Ulama, the Islamic Union (Persis), Al-Irsyad, Al-Islmiyah, Arrobithoh Al-Alawiyah, Association of Indonesian Chinese Muslims (Piti), Mathlaul Anwar, Attihadiyah, Azikra, Al-Wasliyah, Islamic Preacher Association (Ikadi), Syariakat Islam Indonesia, Union of Islamic Education (Perti) and Board of Da'wah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDI).
NU, the statement said, "fully supports" the new regulation that is expected to expedite the legal process of organizational bans while still upholding constitutional rights. "It is like a cancer cell, the rate of spreading is so rapid, so proper and prompt treatment is required, including through the legal approach," Robikin said about the spread of hardline Islamist groups in the country. Meanwhile, the chairman of the youth wing of Muhammadiyah, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, said the planned ban on HTI was "valid for the sake of maintaining national unity." "As long as it is imposed constitutionally," Dahnil added.
The Brilliant Moves Must be Supported
Eventhough HTI immediately vowed to fight back against the Perppu, which has also sparked protest from human rights groups that say the measure could threaten Indonesia's hard-won democracy. Some of pundits said the government regulation in lieu of law is the brilliant moves so that its must be supported by all of Indonesian people.
Being admitted or not, amid in the democratization process in Indonesia, we have a several seriously problems such as an intolerance spirit has been spreading at several provinces; the practice of an identity political to gain pragmatical and political purposes; Raising terrorist cell and radical groups which endangering the unity of Indonesia including pluralism and multiculturalism; Continuing the efforts of anti Pancasila groups or mass organization to promote their ideology and political doctrine; A strong indication about the efforts of new communist generation to purge their organization image and last but not least the existing of arm-rebellion group in Papua and Central Sulawesi.
Every above problem is a serious, basic and strategically for the safetiness of Indonesia because of that the government must be taken firmly action to solve all of those problems through the government right to manage this country.
Its a time for a moderate Islamic mass organization, academia, NGO activist and mass media to support whatever has been decided by our government because the existence of anti-Pancasila mass organization, a communist group, radical group etc are "clear and present danger" for the unity and safetiness of Indonesia youth future.
Since the founding fathers had been declared until now all of national stakeholders have been agreed that a national interest must be prioritized comparing with a group interest, and we had accorded that our national ideology is Pancasila, the fundamental law of Indonesia is UUD 1945 and our togetherness slogan is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, so that whoever, whatever and whenever an individual or groups have a feud feeling to Pancasila, UUD 1945 and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika spirit, it must be dissolutioned, dismantled and forbidden to be develop in Indonesia. Hopefully.
*) The author is a strategic issues observer. Lives in Depok, West Java.
Editor : M. Tohamaksun
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Megapolitan 2017