Pressure mounts against govt on alcohol bill

Pressure mounts against govt on alcohol bill

JAKARTA (JP): Pressure is mounting on the government to scrap
a bill that would impose a fee on alcohol distributors and
regulate the number of places allowed to sell alcohol as well as
the amount allowed to be sold.

Several Moslem groups claim that the bill should be replaced
with one that prohibits the sale of alcohol altogether. The bill
in its current form is still being deliberated in some provincial
legislative councils, though it has already been passed in
several others.

In Bandung, representatives of three student organizations,
including the Moslem Students Association, demanded yesterday
that the West Java provincial legislative council reject the bill
and replace it with an anti-alcoholic beverages bill. In
Semarang, Central Java, several influential Moslem leaders have
made the same call.

In Jakarta, leaders of the ruling Golkar political grouping
urged Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. to act
cautiously, advising the minister to withdraw the bill if more
disturbances are created.

"The Golkar faction at the House of Representatives and Golkar
executive board are calling on the minister to be very careful
and heed the people's aspirations," Golkar deputy chairman
Moestahid Astari was quoted by Antara as saying.

"If the ruling only creates unrest and instability it would be
better not to pass it," he said.

Jakarta's Legislative Council last month approved the bill,
which would replace provincial decree No. 9/1971 on alcoholic
beverage taxes. Under the old decree, a tax is only imposed on
the sellers of alcohol, not the distributors.

Protests have emerged in other cities as additional
legislative councils begin to deliberate the ruling.

Moestahid said that, according to Law No. 5/1974, the power to
pass or drop the bill resides with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"This is why the Golkar faction and Golkar's executive board
are asking the minister not to enact the ruling," he said.

Students in Bandung yesterday met with members of the local
legislative council, led by Nanan Sutadipura, to demand that the
bill be dropped.

In Semarang, Moslem leader Amien Rais of the 28-million member
Muhammadiyah and Sahal Mahfudz of the 30-million Nahdlatul Ulama
called on the government to introduce an anti-alcohol campaign
instead.

"The government should reduce, even abolish, alcohol, not
allow it to be legal," Sahal said. "Why risk ruining our young
people?"

Earlier, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) has said that
banning alcohol is not the best solution for Indonesia which
houses people from non-Islamic religions. The council's vice
chairman, Ali Yafie, said the best way is restricting production
permits and distribution permits. (swe/har)