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)