Depok Mayor Mohammad Idris said the administration wanted to encourage its citizens to do good and avoid bad behavior to create a harmonious, peaceful, safe and orderly society.

He said the bylaw was made to strengthen Depok residents’ social life according to the first principle of Pancasila, which is belief in one God.

“Depok society is heterogenous with residents [of different ethnic backgrounds and] different cultures and religions. So we need a regulation to create a harmonious society,” Idris said on Sunday.

He brushed off concerns that the draft bylaw aimed to regulate residents’ private matters in practicing their faith. He argued that it would instead strengthen the residents’ social and political lives based on the state ideology Pancasila.

Idris, a politician of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said the draft version of the bylaw was still in the form of an executive summary when it was submitted for the 2020 legislation program, hence it was still open to be scrutinized, including by the Depok City Council. He said the administration was open to any comments and input on the bylaw from all parties including the city council, stakeholders and residents.

Concerns over the deliberation of the draft bylaw were raised following the victory of the more conservative PKS in the 2019 legislative elections. Based on vote counting from the Depok General Elections Commission, the PKS came out on top securing 12 seats in the city council. The result unseated the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) which came in second place in the election. In the 2014 legislative election, the PDI-P came out as the winner in Depok. The PKS has long been seen as a religious conservative party in the country.

In the draft obtained by The Jakarta Post, it defines religious as “obedience to the professed religion”. Article 5 of the draft says “Everyone must carry out each of their religious teachings as guidance in personal life and in society.”

The article also has a list of “despicable deeds” that citizens must avoid such as corruption, adultery, substance abuse, gambling, abortion, pornography, riba (usury), heresy, exploitation of women and children, disturbing public order, as well as other illegal acts.

In Article 6, the draft specifically mentions that Muslims must uphold Islamic teachings in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah [the prophet’s teachings] and to prevent heresy.

The draft bylaw also regulates that everyone has the right to pray according to their religion, and employers must also provide a space and time for their employees to pray.

According to Article 11 (3), every Muslim must prioritize the sharia economy and avoid riba.

It also seeks to regulate how citizens dress with an article saying “everyone must dress appropriately according to their religion and appropriate norms in Depok”.

Depok Council speaker and PDI-P member Hendrik Angke Tallo said the council’s consultative body (Bamus) was opposed to including the bylaw in the city’s legislation program (Prolegda) arguing that religion was not under the authority of regional administrations.

Hendrik cited the 2014 law on regional administrations, which does not delegate religious matters to local administrations. Such matters were under the authority of the central government.

He added that the bylaw could discriminate against minority religions and women.

“The Depok administration can issue regulations on public order or on livelihoods to regulate some of its citizens’ behavior, but not in the framework of rewards and sins or heaven and hell,” he said.

Residents also questioned the city administration’s motive for the religious city regulation.

Iman Rosidi, 40, disagreed with the city administration, saying that if such a bylaw was passed, it could pave the way for a bylaw on sharia implementation just like the one in Aceh. Aceh is the only province in the country that upholds sharia. “I don’t think it’s appropriate. Religious activities are our private matters,” he said.

Another resident, Ida Fitri, 37, said the bylaw was not pressing for Depok as she believed that the city did not have any disturbing moral issues. She said Depok needed the measures to tackle the worsening traffic congestion, citing the patchwork development in the infamous Margonda area.

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