Regulating demonstrations

Regulating demonstrations

The draft law on demonstrations is at present in its final
stages of preparation. The draft will shortly be proposed by the
Ministry of Home Affairs. A team representing various ministries
is at present finalizing it. All this was explained by the
Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo
Soedarman after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.

When the draft is completed and made into law, it will be the
first-ever legislation adopted specifically to regulate
demonstrations. Naturally, its contents will be the focus of
public attention.

Whatever one may believe about the presence of such a law, one
thing on which we commonly agree is that demonstrations are in
essence expressions of the rights of citizens. Apart from the
fact that they are universally recognized by the United Nations
Charter, in Indonesia this basic right is protected by Article 28
of our Constitution dealing with the rights of expression and
association.

We believe and hope that when the time comes for the draft law
to be debated in the House of Representatives, the interests of
all groups will be accommodated to the fullest. This is all the
more important because in many cases demonstrations are not
merely problems of law, but often carry political dimensions.

For this reason it would be wise, before the draft law is
debated and passed into law, to examine the issue on an open
forum involving all the various parties concerned. If necessary a
public debate could be held. We should in this case perhaps take
a lesson from the case of the Traffic Law, which was debated in
closed meetings, only to raise opposition when it was passed into
law.

-- Republika, Jakarta