Gossip programs increase divorce rate: Minister

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has expressed support for a ban on popular gossip programs on TV for allegedly giving a rise to divorce rate, kompas.com reported.

Suryadharma said a survey conducted by the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP) found a correlation between the frequent TV broadcast of celebrity news and the increase in the number of couples who sought divorce.

“The rise in divorce rate has something to do with the gossip programs. In other words, the frequent broadcast of celebrities who end their marriages has influenced the social behavior of people,” Suryadharma told a seminar.

Suryadharma, who chairs the PPP, said the survey recorded about 200,000 cases of divorce in 2009, up from 60,000 in 2008. The survey found the sharp increase occurred when private TV stations allocated more time slots for celebrity news last year.

The survey also discovered that three or four in five divorce cases were initiated by women.

While the Indonesian Ulema Council has refrained from banning the gossip programs, some regional chapters of the council have issued edicts prohibiting the TV shows.