Various NGOs say they will report to the police the omission of a sub-article from the newly passed health law stipulating tobacco is an addictive substance.
Sub-article 2 of Article 113 in the law was allegedly struck off due to "vested interests at the House to benefit cigarette companies," activists say.
The law was passed on Sept. 14.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) public service division head Ade Irawan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday he would report the case to the police if discussions with the House of Representatives' ethics board did not reach a resolution.
Ade said the board would inform him Friday of when they could meet.
He said although representatives of Commission IX, overseeing health, manpower, transmigration and population, had told him the sub-article would be put back into the newly passed law, NGOs would still ask the police to investigate.
The National Commission for Child Protection's (KPAI) litigation team coordinator for tobacco control, Mohammad Joni, told the Post the commission had demanded that newly appointed House Speaker Marzuki Alie support the investigation.
Sub-article 2 defines addictive substances including tobacco, tobacco-containing products, as well as solid, liquid and gas additives have the capacity to damage the health of individuals, communities or the environment.
Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) coordinator Tulus Abadi said the omission of sub-article 2 would affect the government's control of tobacco use in the country.
"The House has carelessly risked public interest," he said.
Former Commission IX member Hakim Sorimuda Pohan admitted there had been a problem with the missing paragraph.
He said he had submitted a letter on Sept. 29 to ask then House speaker Agung Laksono to put sub-article 2 back into the law.
Ribka Tjiptaning, the former chairwoman of the House's special committee on the health bill, said the committee was not responsible for the missing paragraph.
"Up until the plenary session *at which the bill was passed*, the paragraph was still there," she said.
"There's no such thing as a missing paragraph."
Constitutional Court chief Mahfud M.D. told the Post that if investigations revealed the omission was deliberate, the perpetrators would face criminal charges.
"The perpetrators must also be given the maximum punishment possible because they committed a crime against the country," he said.
Legal expert Irmanputra Sidin said the onus was on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the House to resolve the scandal.
"The President and the House made the law based on the mandate from the people," he said.
"They were supposed to make sure the approved health law was the same as the draft already shared with the public. They can't take the issue lightly."
Data from the YLKI showed more than 60 million Indonesians were smokers in 2008. The number is expected to increase by 14.5 percent by the end of this year, Tulus said.
He added total cigarette revenue would reach Rp 50 trillion (US$5.3 billion) by the end of 2009, up from Rp 42 trillion last year. (nia/hdt)
