Revision plan on foundations law hailed

Revision plan on foundations law hailed

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Large social organizations supported the government's plan to
revise the controversial law on groups and foundations, saying
that the law was too "restrictive."

The Muhammadiyah and Atma Jaya Foundations said that they
needed certain flexibility in carrying out their social and
humanitarian tasks.

Muhammadiyah is the second largest Muslim organization in the
country, claiming to have 30 million members. Muhammadiyah has
more than 300 foundations throughout Indonesia, which operate in
the fields of education, religion and health.

The Atma Jaya Foundation is a Jakarta-based Catholic
foundation with a staff of 1,300. And like Muhammadiyah, it runs
several foundations in the area of education, religion and
health.

Haedar Nashir, executive secretary of the Muhammadiyah Central
Board, described the new law (takes effect on Aug. 6) as giving
too much room for the government to intervene into the affairs of
foundations.

"We are afraid that the law is turning the clock back to the
New Order period," he told The Jakarta Post, referring to the era
of the previous authoritarian president Soeharto regime.

Critics also said that the law on foundations was a serious
obstacle to the development of other foundations with a true
social mission.

"There is too much intervention from the government, which
makes foundations less flexible," said R. Djokopranoto, chairman
of the Atma Jaya Foundation.

One of the most heavily criticized parts of the law was an
article stipulating that managers of foundations could face
criminal charges if they caused financial losses to the
foundation.

"The executives are barred from receiving a salary by the law,
but in contrast they bear more responsibilities according to the
law.

I am afraid, nobody will be willing to serve as executives,
even including the social ones," Djokopranoto said.

Another disputed point is the requirement for foundations to
obtain licenses from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
before going into operation.

Djokopranoto feared that it would not be an easy process to
obtain the necessary license due to heavy bureaucracy in the
country.

"There's no assurance that the registration process could
proceed smoothly," said Djokopranoto, who feared that the
registration process would be tarnished by bureaucratic
corruption and extortion.