Ezra Sihite – It's not corruption or fuel prices that has some lawmakers concerned these days – it's cleavage and short skirts.

The House of Representatives' Household Affairs Committee (BURT) has penned a new regulation designed to address the concerns of certain male House members who appear to be uncomfortable with some female staffers' style of dress.

Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung said the new regulation, which is understood to require "modest" and "proper" dress, was needed in order to prevent male House members from losing control. "It has become necessary to prevent unwanted incidents. Polite dress is also good for House members," the PDI-P lawmaker said on Monday.

Pramono said he was setting a good example with his staff. "We're improving the image of the House, little by little. My staff are mostly male, and those who are female wear jilbab [headscarves]."

But some lawmakers are not convinced of the need for the new regulation. "There are plenty of other steps that could improve the image of the House. For example, the Speaker could stop wasting his breath on counter-productive topics," said Bambang Soesatyo of the House commission which handles legal affairs.

The Golkar politician went on to suggest that "sexiness" was in the eye of the beholder. "The limits of 'sexy' are relative to people's respective values," Bambang said.

"Deciding what constitutes sexy clothing isn't as simple as measuring a miniskirt. It could include a tight blouse, a couple of undone buttons, a flirtatious manner and so on."

The new rule would be impossible to implement, he said, citing for example the possible ban on short skirts. "Maybe wearing a long skirt but putting cleavage on show would be just as flirtatious. Those things could all be said to be tempting," he said.

Contacted on Monday, the deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said the ban was inappropriate and perhaps unconstitutional.

"If the issue is people's mode of dress, that's a private matter and one that can't be controlled by the state," Masruchah said. "So I think that if this is made into a rule, it will be inconsistent with the constitution."

Golkar lawmaker Nurul Arifin agreed. "The House of Representatives doesn't need to be worrying about miniskirts. As far as I can see, [staffers' dress] has been completely normal," he said on Monday. "No one is over the top." "Please, gentlemen, don't have such lecherous minds," Nurul added.