Mixed reactions greet gathering permits' abolition

JAKARTA (JP): The government's intention to scrap its policy requiring public gathering permits is being greeted cautiously by political analysts but welcomed enthusiastically by legislators.

"Old habits usually die hard. I'll believe it when I see it," Maswadi Rauf, a staff lecturer at the University of Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences, told The Jakarta Post yesterday. "Security personnel and officials in charge of issuing permits may feel uncertain and prefer to act the way they previously did."

"Let's hope this decision is not a new form of manipulation. I hope the government is honest (in taking the decision)," said Abdurrahman Wahid, the controversial leader of the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization.

"The people have become apathetic about various aspects of our social and political life...because there have often been manipulations," he was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency. "On the one hand, the government said there's no ban on free speech, but on the other hand, some government apparatus denied requests for permits or broke up meetings."

He cited a number of examples, including the bans imposed on his other organization, Forum Demokrasi, from holding gatherings. "I'm optimistic, though, that things will get better," he said.

The government announced on Tuesday that it is abolishing the permit requirements for virtually all kinds of gatherings, including those which are political in nature. In many cases, it claims, notification to the police will suffice.

Both Maswadi and Abdurrahman called on the government to make good on its decision by drafting guidelines for implementation. "For instance, there should be criteria on what constitutes a political meeting and which gatherings can be considered apolitical," Abdurrahman said.

"I don't see any drastic changes in this decision," Maswadi said. "There's only a very thin line between the old policy and the new one which requires the public to notify authorities before holding any gathering.

"The officials or the authorities can still make the procedures difficult for the public. This decision won't be easy to implement the way some people think," he said.

Meanwhile, legislators Saleh Khalid, Oka Mahendra, Royani Haminullah and Suparman Achmad expressed relief with the decision. They agreed that it represents a positive development for democratization and a step forward in the campaign for a more open political life.

Breakthrough

Saleh, who is from the Moslem-based United Development Party faction, said the decision is "a political breakthrough, a relief, though a bit late".

"It's important that this political will be translated into political action so that both the government and the lowest-rung security personnel will be able to uniformly implement it," he said.

Suparman, from the Armed Forces faction, saluted the announcement, saying that, if well used, it could prove to be a step toward greater openness.

"This is a great opportunity for democracy," he said.

Both Oka, from the ruling Golkar faction, and Royani, from the Indonesian Democratic Party, urged the government to follow up the decision soon with concrete legal measures.

"Freedom of speech is already guaranteed in the Constitution, but there are no laws regulating it, this is where problems occur," Royani said.

There are at least two organizations which have expressed dissatisfaction with the abolition of permit requirements.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation stated in a release yesterday that "there is no substantial change in the government's political view", because it is still using a 1965 law on political activities which is restrictive in nature.

The government, spokesman Hendardi said, retains the authority to define "political gatherings" and to decide on which apparatus or government agencies to notify.

"That means the state still has the leeway to take repressive actions by prohibiting or breaking up public activities," Hendardi said.

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy expressed similar sentiments. Spokesman Ifdhal Kasim said in a statement made available to the press yesterday that whatever regulation the government makes on people's freedom to assemble should not go against the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Constitution.(swe)

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