New organizations must first fulfill legal requirements
New organizations must first fulfill legal requirements
JAKARTA (JP): Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said yesterday that all recently established organizations must fulfill legal requirements before their existence can be recognized.
Moerdiono, during a hearing at the House of Representatives, said they must pass the 1985 law on mass organizations, which regulates freedom of association and assembly as guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution.
He said the Constitution recognizes the need to regulate the articles pertaining to the right of assembly and freedom of speech.
The 1985 law sets out the minimum conditions mass organizations must meet, including the required recognition of Pancasila as their sole guiding principle, he said.
It also delineates the scope of an organization, whether it is national, provincial or local.
"If they have many supporters, like Muhammadiyah or Nahdlatul Ulama, then they are nationwide. But if they don't have many supporters, should we give them a place?" he asked.
Members of the House's Commission II on domestic politics, questioned Moerdiono about the government's stance on new organizations. Some new organizations are using the same acronyms and abbreviations as popular political parties in the 1950s and 1960s.
"The trend is confusing the people," Soenaryo, a member from the Indonesian Democratic Party faction, told the minister.
The latest organization to emerge is the new Masyumi, named with an acronym used by a popular Islamic party that was banned in 1960 because of its association with an armed rebellion. Its founders hope that Masyumi will one day become a political party representing the interests of Moslems.
Old Masyumi members, however, have denounced founders of the new organization for exploiting the popularity of the old party.
A new PNI, copying the old Indonesian Nationalist Party, and a new Parkindo, imitating the Indonesian Christian Party, were formed earlier.
By law, all new organizations must register with the Ministry of Home Affairs. They may be approved if they fulfill the requirements found in the 1985 legislation.
Amidst the commotion, controversial politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas reiterated his intention to establish a new political party which he plans to call the Democratic Union Party.
Bintang was a member of the House of Representatives for the United Development Party (PPP). He was sacked in February for repeatedly challenging the party's official line on sensitive political issues.
A 1985 legislation on political parties only recognizes the ruling Golkar faction, the PPP and the Indonesian Democratic Party.
Moerdiono urged House members yesterday to look at the emergence of these new organizations critically.
He emphasized a 1966 national consensus to limit the number of political parties to three, and pointed out that the 1985 law on mass organizations was also the result of 20 years of work in instituting order and stability.
"Let's not turn the clock back," he urged.
He recalled that in 1966, the People's Consultative Assembly agreed to end the multiparty system which had made governing the country difficult. (01)