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PDI-P calls for civil registration law to be delayed
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 12/05/2006 1:12 PM
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) demanded here Monday that the House of Representatives postpone passing the civil registration bill, which critics have said violates human rights laws.
The PDI-P faction secretary in the House, Jacobus Mayongpadang, told a news conference that his party would not support the bill's endorsement, scheduled for Dec. 7.
""The bill is discriminatory and must be reviewed before it is endorsed,"" he said.
The PDI-P, the country's second largest party with 109 seats in the House, is so far the only faction in the legislature to object to the bill.
The bill has sparked strong criticism from human rights groups for allowing only the six official religions -- Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism -- to be listed on identity cards.
Followers of other faiths, such as local traditional religions, are unable to identify themselves as such, restricting their access to public services.
Critics of the bill include an alliance of non-governmental organizations and the parliamentary caucus for human rights, along with believers in non-official faiths.
Mayongpandang said the PDI-P did not want the civil registration bill to deal with religious matters.
""Identity cards should mention only numbers and the names of citizens and of their parents and not their religions because the latter is their personal right that has no substantial relation to civil registration,"" he said.
He added that freedom of religion was guaranteed by the Constitution and that the government had no choice but accept the various belief systems embraced by its citizens.
""If the government insists on registering citizens' religions, it should also register traditional beliefs and their marriages, and their children with their beliefs should be also listed in the civil registration book,"" he said.
Special commission chairman E. Mangindaan said that in enforcing the bill, the government would list citizens' religions in a population data bank, not on their identity cards.
He said the bill stipulated that there would be a transition period during which local administrations would establish the systems required to compile an online population database.
Unnamed sources who are part of the special commission deliberating the bill have said that the inclusion of traditional beliefs on identity cards was rejected by members of Islamic-based parties.
They said the parties were concerned many people would no longer list Islam as their religion if they were allowed to identify themselves as belonging to a non-official faith.
