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Bali will not enforce porn law, public officials say
In a move of defiance against the controversial pornography bill, Bali's governor and speaker of the provincial legislative council declared Friday the province would not be able to enforce the newly passed law
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In a move of defiance against the controversial pornography bill, Bali's governor and speaker of the provincial legislative council declared Friday the province would not be able to enforce the newly passed law.
In a two-point written statement, signed by Governor Made Mangku Pastika and Speaker Ida Bagus Putu Wesnawa, Bali made its historic mark as the first region ever to publicly declare an inability to implement a law passed by the House of Representatives.
"With the passing of the porn bill on Thursday, we hereby declare that we cannot carry it out because it is not in line with Balinese philosophical and sociological values," Pastika said at the council building here.
"We further implore every element of the Balinese public to keep calm, stay alert, not be easily provoked and maintain the appropriate atmosphere to maintain the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia."
The pornography bill was passed with overwhelming support from 10 of the 12 factions in the House. The remaining two, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), walked out during voting in a show of resistance.
However, the legal force of the declaration remains unclear. Pastika did not elaborate on how the declaration would affect the island, calling it simply a "statement from the people of Bali".
Neither did he elaborate on the position of the provincial police on the matter or whether he planned to join forces with other regions that had explicitly stated their opposition to the bill.
"This is just a public announcement of our position. We simply cannot enforce this particular bill," he said.
Pastika said the letter would not be sent to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or any other government officials, as "this declaration will reach them anyway".
Asked whether the provincial administration would pursue a Constitutional challenge, Pastika said he and other leaders were still considering it, adding a legal challenge was the next most viable option.
Many organizations, such as the Bali People's Component, have stated their intention to challenge the bill through the Constitutional Court.
Made Arjaya, head of the council's Commission I overseeing law and security, said his office would wait until "further development". The President still had to sign the bill, he added.
Under the Indonesian legislation system, if a bill is not signed within 30 days after the House passes it, it automatically becomes legally binding.
Wesnawa refused to call the declaration an act of defiance, saying the province had no option because the bill goes against everything the Balinese stand for.
"An act of defiance is an act of refusal. We're not refusing the law, we just simply can't enforce it," he said.
"The fact is, many of our artists, our religious beliefs and our people are in danger of being persecuted by this law. So we simply cannot enforce it."
Bali's leaders and public have been united in their opposition to the draft pornography bill for years. Many in the island have called for civil disobedience should the bill be passed into law.
The previous governor, Made Dewa Beratha, even stated during the bill's first introduction to the public in 2006 that Bali "might as well declare independence" if the bill was passed.
