The House of Representatives passed on Tuesday the 2017 government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on mass organizations, which replaces the 2013 Perppu on mass organizations.

Critics have said that the 2017 law violates the constitutional right to assemble because it gives the government the power to disband organizations without due process of law.

Read also: EDITORIAL: The state's Perppu blank check

The Democratic Party backed the Perppu under the condition that some provisions be revised immediately should it be passed into law. The Perppu was supported by seven of nine House parties.

“What if the government breaks its promise [...] and does not make a revision [to the law]?” Yudhoyono, a former president, said on the party’s website.

“If that happens, the Dems would issue a political petition."

Loud crowd: Protesters stage a rally outside the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Friday. They protested the presidential regulation in lieu of the law (Perppu) on mass organizations, which they claimed would pave the way for authoritarian rule. The protesters also expressed concerns over a revival of communism. (JP/Ibrahim Irsyad)

The government previously used the Perppu to disband Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a pan-Islamic organization wanting to establish an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia.

Critics say the regulation could also be used to silent other organizations, religious or secular, considered to have contradicted the national ideology of Pancasila.

Protesters hit the streets in protest, saying the law was a setback to the world’s third largest democracy. (bbs)