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aw and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has again defended the government’s decision to issue a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on mass groups, saying that strong legislation is needed to oversee the 325,887 organizations in the country.

“With the large number of mass organizations, surely we need an effective regulation to prevent, oversee and take action against the mass organizations that contradict Pancasila, the Constitution and the NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia],” he said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.

Human rights activists have criticized the Perppu, saying the legislation is draconian and therefore prone to abuse.

Yasonna said that the 2013 Law on Mass Organizations did not confer strong authority on the government to act firmly against mass groups that try to replace Pancasila.

The Perppu was issued months after the government announced its plan to ban Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a local chapter of the global Hizbut Tahrir movement that promotes the creation of a worldwide caliphate.

It took only a week after the issuance of the Perppu for the government to officially ban HTI, which has vowed to challenge the decision at the State Administrative Court (PTUN).

“We cannot let them grow. This is an ideological movement,” he said.