House to propose new bill on citizenship

House to propose new bill on citizenship

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After years of delay, the House of Representatives legislation
committee will propose a new bill on citizenship, which aims to
eliminate discriminatory articles under the current problematic
law.

Legislation committee chairman Muhammad A.S. Hikam said a new
law was important because the existing Law No. 62/1958 was no
longer appropriate at a time when democracy and equality should
reign.

"There are still discriminatory items in the existing law,
especially those on foreigners wishing to become Indonesian
citizens as well as on former political prisoners," he said on
Saturday.

Hikam, also a member of House Commission I on defense and
foreign affairs, further said a law on citizenship must not be
restricted only to matters of citizenship, but also embody the
basic civil rights that come with citizenship.

"It's more fundamental than simply determining the status of
someone or the implications of marrying foreigners. If we're
going to talk only about status, we have a law on civil records.
It needs to be seen as a law to protect citizens' basic rights,"
he said.

Legislation committee member, Nursjahbani Katjasungkana, said
she would push for the inclusion of dual citizenship in the new
law as it would indeed bring substantial benefit for the country
in terms of better quality human resources as overseas-educated
children of mixed parents could come here without the legal
barrier of their citizenship.

"Most modern countries are applying it as it makes it easier
for mixed parents and their offspring to use facilities in the
two countries in question.

This is also to cut all the red tape and erase problems that
mixed parents face because of the uncertain status of their
children," she said.

Nursjahbani said children of an Indonesian woman married to an
expatriate should be entitled to the right to vote and also be
exempted from the requirement to possess stay or work permits.

"Moreover, an expatriate wife of an Indonesian man should also
be allowed to work," she added.

She said the purpose would be to erase as much as possible all
discriminatory items in the existing law -- especially those
regarding women and children.

However, Nursjahbani disagreed with her fellow legislator
Hikam, saying the articles concerning basic civil rights were
already accommodated in the Constitution itself.

"This is a matter of the status of a citizen, about obtaining
or losing it. The Constitution already stipulates that basic
civil rights are guaranteed," she said.

She also said challenges to a more democratic and flexible law
on citizenship would likely come from those with little
understanding of nationalism.

A bill to replace the existing law was actually drafted by
legislators during the previous term, but was never deliberated.

The legislation committee is scheduled to bring the draft as a
House-sponsored bill to a plenary session on Tuesday.

If the House agrees to adopt the bill, the legislation
committee will set up a working committee and produce a new draft
to be deliberated later with the government.