The Padang chapter of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) have said that they support the local government's plan to issue a bylaw banning adultery and prostitution.

According to MUI Padang head Duski Samad, the bylaw draft has been deliberated by the Padang Legislative Council (DPRD) to be issued soon. "We will support DPRD Padang in passing this regulation as it will represent a serious effort by the government to eradicate immoral acts," Duski said as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday.

According to him, with such a bylaw in place the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) will have the legal foundation to take action against immorality by eradicating adultery and prostitution in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra.

Duski claims that society has failed to filter out globalization's effects and therefore the government needs to issue regulations in order to deter perpetrators.

The head of DPRD Padang, Jhon Roza Syaukani, says that the aim of the ordinance is to reduce occurrences of adultery and prostitution in the city. "This bylaw is to support the vision and mission of Padang city as portraying itself as a safe and prosperous metropolis," Jhon said.

The earlier draft stipulated that violators of the regulation should be rehabilitated after being sanctioned. The sanction itself remains unclear, but the bylaw obliges the government to build a rehabilitation facility.

It also stated that eradicating adultery and prostitution is part of an effort to preserve and implement the norms of Pancasila, Indonesia's state ideology, as well as upholding the sanctity of marriage as an institution.