Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Most factions in the House of Representatives are pushing for the controversial pornography bill to be passed Thursday, despite a threat by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to boycott the move and rejection from several provinces.
The passage of the bill was made possible after eight of the 10 factions at the House accepted the draft Tuesday. The PDI-P walked out of the deliberation process and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) rejected it.
"Yes, we will pass the bill on Oct. 30," chairman of the special committee deliberating the bill, Balkan Kaplale, said.
On Wednesday, leaders of all factions will meet House leaders to confirm the Oct. 30 date for the House plenary session to approve the bill. Thursday will be the last sitting day before the House goes into recess.
The PDI-P walked out of deliberations for the second time after it was unsuccessful in its last-ditch attempt to change the definition of pornography and to remove an article that allows public participation in preventing pornography.
"We have been stretched to the limit to scrap acts from the definition of pornography and omit the public participation articles, but to no avail," PDI-P lawmaker Eva K. Sundari said. "Therefore, we are not part of the process and will not be responsible for it."
The current draft defines pornography as "man-made sexual materials either in the forms of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, texts, voices, sound, moving pictures, animations, cartoons, poetry, conversations, gestures, or other forms of communicative messages through various kinds of media; and or performances in front of the public, which may incite sexual desire and or violate moral ethics in the community".
Eva said the PDI-P rejected the definition and demanded that gestures and performances be excluded from the definition as they would limit many people's activities under subjective interpretations and lead to many artistic performances being banned.
"Articles 21 to 23 allow for the public to play a role in preventing pornography. It will justify people taking the law into their own hands," she said.
Eva said she had already received text messages from several groups saying they would ensure the law was enforced.
"It confirms our suspicion that it can spark conflict given that even though there is no law now, some groups have dared to attack others right under the nose of the police. What will happen if they take the law into their own hands?" Eva said.
The passage of the bill also defies official objections from some provinces, especially Bali, Papua and North Sulawesi.
"Why are we in such a hurry to pass the bill? It can be done after the break to allow for more compromises and communication to the provinces that reject it," Eva said.
Last week, the House decided to delay the deliberation of the bill until after the break in late November because of the heated debate over the issue.