Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – For the second time in a row, the House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to endorse the controversial mass organizations bill, following a mass protest from some of the country's largest organizations, including Muhammadiyah.
A House plenary meeting on Tuesday agreed to put off the endorsement of the bill until next week so a special committee tasked to deliberate the bill could convince critics about the urgency of the bill.
"All party factions have basically approved the content of the bill, but some of them think that today is not the right moment to pass the bill as many groups remain unconvinced," House Deputy Speaker Taufik Kurniawan said. Taufik said that in the next week, the House would step up its public relation campaign for the bill.
"We will use the remaining week time to promote the bill to the public. At the same time, leaders of each party faction are responsible to inform all members about the content of the bill," said Taufik, a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN).
Before announcing the decision, Taufik adjourned the plenary meeting for two hours to allow party faction leaders to conduct lobbying after a number of factions withdrew their support at the last minute.
Leader of the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party faction, Syarifuddin Suding, said the latest draft bill had nebulous articles. Syarifuddin said he was concerned with Article 53, which put a limit on what foreign groups could do in the country.
The article stipulates that foreign-based mass organizations are banned from conducting activities that could threatened the integrity of the nation or interfere with the country's diplomatic relationships with other nations.
It further stipulates that foreign mass organizations are not allowed to conduct intelligence and political activities nor use state-owned facilities and infrastructure. "This article could have so many interpretations; while a law should not be so," Syarifuddin said.
The Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party also withdrew its support for the bill and urged the House to hold comprehensive talks with leaders of mass organizations, particularly Nahdatul Ulama and the Muhammadiyah.
"It's obvious these groups are concerned with the possible impact of the bill. We must delay the endorsement of this bill and consult them," Gerindra faction leader Ahmad Muzani said.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Golkar Party factions also withdrew their support at the last minutes.
While lawmakers were holding political talks on the bill in the plenary hall, activists from rights groups including the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Imparsial, the Indonesian Labor Union Confederation, Setara and the Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (Yappika) staged a protest in front of the House compound.
These groups called on the House to drop the bill for good because, once endorsed, it would only restrict freedom of association. The coalition said it would file a judicial review to the Constitutional Court if lawmaker pressed ahead with the endorsement of the bill.
Muhammadiyah also pledged that it would blacklist party factions that endorsed the bill and would order its members to not vote for incumbent legislative candidates in the legislative election in April next year.