Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The House of Representative's Legislative Body (Baleg) has rejected the Health Ministry's demand that it halt deliberations on the controversial tobacco bill, which was allegedly devised to protect giant cigarette companies.
During a hearing at the House on Thursday, Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi urged Baleg to immediately revoke the bill, saying that after reading the draft of the legislation that she obtained it was clear that it was made to protect the tobacco industry.
"The bill should be scrapped as it contradicts the basic human right of having the highest standard of healthy living," Nafsiah said on Thursday.
"If the bill was indeed proposed to protect farmers from imports, then why does it only deal with tobacco? Why not draft a bill that protect farmers from all imported commodities?"
Baleg member and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Indra quickly responded to the minister's statement, saying the minister was jumping the gun by making such an accusation.
"The draft that was received by the Health Ministry was not created by the House's legislative body," Indra said during the hearing on Thursday. "Frankly, we haven't even decided on the name of the bill, let alone written a draft," he said.
Indra called into question the draft that was discussed by the minister, suggesting that the ministry might have obtained a fake document. "We want to gather as much as information from government officials as well as the public before drafting the bill," Indra told The Jakarta Post after the hearing.
Baleg deputy chairman Abdul Kadir Karding said that the minister's statement urging the termination of the prospective bill was insensitive. "Our plan is to protect the farmers, as well as our heritage tobacco plants. So, even though it is her job to ensure the health of the country's citizens, she really should take other things into consideration," Abdul said.
Abdul said that the bill would focus on controlling the import of tobacco and increasing the cigarette levy.
Nafsiah said that she received the draft from the Baleg secretariat through the ministry's communications department. "I reject the bill based on the draft that we obtained. If they said I obtained an illegal document, then whatever I said during the hearing is no longer valid now," Nafsiah told reporters after the hearing.
In 2009, House Commission IX on health and welfare affairs proposed a bill on the impact of tobacco products. Baleg rejected the bill, citing the major socioeconomic implications of the bill for many citizens, particularly tobacco farmers.
In December last year, Baleg announce that a tobacco bill that aimed to improve the welfare of tobacco farmers, would be one of 12 new pieces of legislation to be deliberated in the 2013 National legislative program (Prolegnas).
Some lawmakers, health experts and the activists have said that the hurried inclusion of the bill on the House's backlogged agenda might have been a result of lobbying from giant cigarette companies.
A few weeks ago, the body held a similar meeting with representatives from tobacco companies that urged the House to expedite its deliberation of the bill, given that the ministry aimed to accede to the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to fight rampant smoking in the country.