Basten Gokkon, Jakarta – Abdullah Hehamahua, a former adviser for the Corruption Eradication Commission, has received intense criticism for making sexist remarks about the anti-graft body's all-female selection committee recently appointed by President Joko Widodo.
Joko announced on Thursday his choice for nine new members of the committee, which will be led by economic analyst Destry Damayanti and state administrative legal expert Enny Nurbayaningsih as head and deputy head, respectively.
Other members of the team include Harkristuti Haskrisnowo, a criminal law and human rights expert; Betty Alisjabana, a technology, information and management analyst; Yenti Garnasih, a money laundering and criminal law expert; noted psychologist Supri Wimbarti; Natalia Subagio, the chairwoman of Transparency International Indonesia; as well as Diani Sadiawati, the director of legal human rights at the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and Meuthia Ganie-Rochman, an expert on corruption sociology and social capital.
Upon hearing the announcement, Abdullah wasted no time to express his chauvinistic disapproval of the committee's lack of testosterone.
"Doomsday is coming," he said on Thursday, as quoted by news portal JPNN.com. "Excuse me, but I am a Muslim and have always been a good Muslim. I believe in what the Prophet Muhammad said: 'Whoever gives governmental matters to women, [they] will be led to destruction,'" he added.
Abdullah then claimed the committee would not be able to do their jobs in helping the anti-graft body tackle corruption, regardless of their professional backgrounds.
"Not only it would not be optimum, but it could lead to destruction; because of the emancipation of women, the state will be destroyed," he said.
Human Rights Watch activist Andreas Harsono called Abdullah's remarks "ridiculous" and "inconsequential." "In his comments, [Abdullah] interpreted Islam in a very conservative way," Andreas told the Jakarta Globe on Friday. "There are many female leaders in Muslim countries."
Pakistan, the second most populous Muslim-majority country, elected Benazir Bhutto as president twice, serving in 1988-1990 and 1993-1996. Bangladesh, the third most-populous Muslim-majority state, chose Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed to be its prime ministers in 1991 and 1996, respectively. Turkey's Tansu Ciller, meanwhile, served as prime minister between 1993 and 1995.
Indonesia, as the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, elected Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2001 as its first ever female president.
"I strongly disagree with any statement that degrades women. Women have equal rights and responsibilities. It's about skills, knowledge and integrity," Poengky Indarti, executive director of a human rights watchdog Imparsial, told the Globe. "I have no problems with the fact that the committee is run by women – as long as they can do their job well."
Poengky slammed Abdullah for using Islam to back up his "misleading" and "bias" statements. "I myself am a Muslim and I think Islam respects women," she said.
Andreas assured that Abdullah's comments did not reflect all of Indonesia. "[Abdullah] is just embarrassing himself [by making such comments]," Andreas said.
The two activists stressed that what matters is the committee members' performance in carrying out their responsibilities. "The public's response has been positive so far. Let's just see how the women will work together," Andreas said.