Dharma Wanita 'rejects removal of polygamy ban'

Dharma Wanita 'rejects removal of polygamy ban'

JAKARTA (JP): The organization of civil servants' wives Dharma
Wanita Persatuan asserted on Tuesday its rejection of the planned
removal of the ban on polygamy for civil servants.

"Our stance is clear. We support the enactment of PP.10/1983
which bans civil servants from polygamy based on the fact that
most of the state employees still have very low morals and
discipline," Dharma Wanita chairwoman Nila F. Moeloek told a
year-end media briefing.

Dharma Wanita Persatuan consists of some three million wives
of civil servants.

Our ultimate concern lies in the education, health and welfare
responsibility of each civil servant family and also the
consequences if the man in that family was to have more than one
wife, Nila said.

"If a civil servant only receives a wage of Rp 250,000 every
month and has three wives and ten children, then there are
legitimate concerns for that families future?"

"It seems that men tend to not care about how many wives they
can have but naturally, no women in the world would accept her
husband to be married to someone else," Nila charged.

Therefore, the organization is working on a gender empowerment
scheme that supports women deciding their own fate for the sake
of the family.

"For instance, a wife of a civil servant can say no when the
husband asks for more children if the family income is relatively
small," said Nila who is also an eye specialist and wife of the
former Minister of Health.

The 1983 government regulation against polygamy states that a
civil servant must seek the approval of his superiors before he
can take a second wife. The rule further states that such an
approval could only be forthcoming if the first wife approves of
it. When PP10 was introduced, it was intended to protect women
against possible abuses by a husband who wanted to take a second
wife. The regulation at the time received strong support by the
then first lady Mrs. Tien Soeharto but was widely opposed by
Muslim organizations.

However Minister of Religious Affairs Tolchah Hasan in
September suggested the possibility of revoking the law, arguing
that it was no longer in line with recent developments and that
the public should be given greater leeway to determine such
matters.

Reorganize

In a bid to break ties with the past, the organization also
changed their name at its leadership meeting on Dec. 7, 1999. The
previous name of "Dharma Wanita", which is closely associated
with the New Order regime, has been dropped so as to reflect a
new paradigm shift for empowering women.

The organization also pledged that it was no longer
politically affiliated with certain parties.

"We want to improve our image. We are no longer a burden or a
political tool for the government. We effectively have been
introducing health and education schemes for all of the
community," Nila said.

"Since we can no longer get our funds from government
departments, we must be independent," she added.

"We are now free to express our political aspirations. The
leaders of Dharma Wanita Persatuan also do not necessarily have
to be a wife of a minister," Mien Martiono Hadianto, one of the
organization's leaders, said.

Yati Amur Muchasim, the organization's branch chief in
Jakarta, said that one of the groups main concerns is the
upcoming proposed regional autonomy in January. Due to this it is
estimated that 1.9 million civil servants are likely to be
transferred to regional areas.

"These changes will have consequences that will effect our
husbands work status. Add this to our current family emotional
and economic pressures and many of us are very concerned about
where we will be living in the future and the level of education
our children will receive", she said. (edt)