Fahrizal Syam, Jakarta – The national police already have a list of social organisations (Ormas) that will be disbanded following the issuance of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) Number 2/2017.
The social organisations on the list will be disbanded through the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
“There are several ormas that we have identified and we will submit these to the Menko [Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs]”, said National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian.
Karnavian said that government agencies would continue to coordinate to compile data on social organisations that are against the state ideology of Pancasila and should be disbanded. This coordination will be under the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Wiranto.
“There will be [input] from the BIN [National Intelligence Agency], from the Attorney General’s Office, we will gather together what’s needed, from the TNI [Indonesian military], from other [agencies]”, he said.
“I think that the dissolution of social organisations that oppose Pancasila is something that we need to do. Agreement and disagreement is normal but if they speak negatively about Pancasila, NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia], whatever, we must confront them”, added Karnavian.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has also spoken out about the Perppu inviting those who oppose the law to challenge it through legal channels. “Those who don’t agree with the Perppu Ormas for example, please pursue legal channels. We are a constitutional state. We allow space for those who disagree. Pursue legal channels. Through legal channels”, said Widodo.
Widodo however asserted that the state would not remain silent in the face of social organisations or individuals that want to replace Pancasila as the state ideology. He insisted that the state must be prepared to rein in and control social organisations.
“The future of the country cannot be undermined, or its authority undermined. We do not want there to be anyone that undermines our NKRI”, he said.
“They cannot just be ignored, those who explicitly want to replace Pancasila, want to undermine the NKRI, [want to] bring down this democratic country”, he added.
GNPF not worried
The withdrawal of a social organisation’s legal status without going through the courts, according to the deputy chairperson of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), Zaitun Rasmin, is something that is unacceptable.
“It’s not possible, we hope that (the disbanding will still) be through the courts, it’s more objective, clearly more objective”, he said.
Rasmin believes that the issuance of the Perppu was triggered by the government’s policy of wanting to disband the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), but that it will not just be used against the Muslim community.
The Perppu covers all parties that violate the regulations. “I see it as being very general, it could be for Islamic social organisations, it could be for non-government organisations”, he said.
Is the GNPF-MUI, as the pioneer of the Defend Islam actions which succeeded in mobilising tens if not hundreds of thousands of Muslim against former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama [which led to his conviction and jailing for blasphemy], also threatened by the Perppu. “No, Defend Islam is [too] big, it can’t be stopped”, he asserted.
The chairperson of the Islamic mass organisation Nahdatul Ulama’s executive board (PBNU), Said Aqil Siradj said that he supports the Perppu. “We the NU and 14 other Islamic social organisations agree with and support the government’s stand on the Perppu”, said Siradj.
This is despite the fact that the Perppu is still the subject of a polemic with opposition coming from the public over the disbanding of social organisations that do not agree with Pancasila or the NKRI because there is nothing urgent that could become a threat to democracy.
“Our democracy is through the corridor of Pancasila and the NKRI, you can’t have any old kind of democracy you want, to the point that even the foundations of the state are debated”, said Siradj.
Step backward
Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Sohibul Iman opposes the disbanding of a social organisation without going through the courts first.
Particularly since through the new Perppu the government now has the sole authority to interpret who supports Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution (UUD 1945) and who is against it.
“(For example), this or that party opposes Pancasila, this or that party is radical, it’s all a subjective [interpretation] by the government. If viewed from the democracy that we have build, I think it is a step backwards”, he said.
[Abridged translation by James Balowski for the Indoleft news service. The un-translated sections of the article covered details on the differences between the new Perppu and the 2013 law on social organisation. The original title of the article was Polisi Kantongi Ormas-ormas Anti-Pancasila yang Layak Dibubarkan.]
