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group of artists from the Indonesian Arts Coalition has criticized a draft bill on culture that is currently being legislated by the House of Representatives.

'€œThe bill does not address the need for cultural development in society,'€ the coalition head Abduh Aziz said on Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Abduh said the culture bill called for the establishment of a '€œculture police'€ inside groups of artists and in society in general.

The coalition demanded that the House Commission X overseeing sports, education and tourism involve more art professionals in the bill'€™s development.

Abduh said the bill should guarantee freedom of expression with the support of sufficient infrastructure and resources to develop ideas and allow creativity.

The government should also provide supporting policies that would stimulate public and private participation in cultural initiatives, he said.

Earlier, the group had urged the House and the Culture and Education Ministry to postpone the bill'€™s legislation as the draft held ideas that they considered strayed from the general principles of cultural development.

'€œThe bill is built upon insecurity toward foreign culture,'€ said Abduh.

The draft bill, for example, opens with a statement the group considers controversial: '€œCultural value and diversity in Indonesia is prone to the influences of globalization that may alter values in society.'€

The statement, which stood as the background for proposing the bill, said Abduh, failed to comprehend the essence of Indonesian culture, which had received influences from many streams of civilizations for generations.

House Commission X member Reni Marlinawati said that the writing of the bill'€™s academic text had involved artists and cultural icons, as well as academics.

'€œWith this bill the government can be held responsible for allocating a significant amount of funds to develop arts in the country. We are open to suggestions from the Indonesian Arts Coalition to improve the draft,'€ she said.

Also known as a filmmaker, Abduh shared his experience when he was involved in the drafting of the Film Law, which was passed in three weeks after entering the legislature in 2009 '€” simply to keep up with the House'€™s schedule.

As a result, he said the law had many weaknesses that had prevented implementation even until now.

The Education and Culture Ministry'€™s director general for culture, Kacung Marijan, emphasized that the government was in no rush to pass the bill.

'€œIn the case of the Film Law, we were trying to accelerate its deliberation, but we'€™re not doing that with the current culture bill,'€ he said.

The Indonesian Arts Coalition is a permanent organization that oversees 58 art professionals and cultural organizations in 12 provinces in Indonesia.