First step: put
the girls in jilbabs
It is fair to say that Indonesia’sHouse of Representatives, the
national legislature, has an image problem.
Already 33 members of a single committee of the 530-person legislature
have been sent to prison for accepting bribes in a single scandal. That
involved votes sold in 2004 for a total of US$2.3 million to reelect as
Indonesia’s deputy central bank governor Miranda Goeltom, who is now under
investigation by authorities.
There could well be more to come. A total of 51 members of the
commission who voted for Goeltom’s appointment have been named as suspects.
That doesn’t even count the legions of lawmakers caught up in Indonesia’
biggest scandal, over the construction of an athletes’ village for the
Southeast Asian Games which were held in Palembang and Jakarta last November.
That scandal appears set to wreck the Democratic Party headed by President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Among others ensnared are Anas Urbamingrum, the head
of the party; former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng, former party
treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin and a long list of other lawmakers.
Since it started operating in late 2003, the Corruption Eradication
Commission (KPK) has investigated, prosecuted and achieved a 100-percent
conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery and graft related to government
procurements and budgets.
The legislature normally manages to pass perhaps a half-dozen bills a
year at best. It was listed in the 2011 Transparency International index as
Indonesia’s most corrupt institution in a country ranked well down the world's
list. One of its major 2011 goals was to cut back on the power of the KPK to do
investigations. Clearly, the house of representatives, as the body is also
known, needs an image makeover. Its answer, besides trying to get rid of the
KPK?
Make sure its
female staff members dress modestly.
The Household Affairs Committee announced Monday that it had written a
new regulation designed to allay the worries of religiously conservative male
house members who have complained that they have been embarrassed by the
clothing worn by some staff members, never mind that one of the members of one
of the most conservative political parties was caught a few months ago,
watching pornography on an electronic device while sitting in a legislative
session and was forced to resign from office.
Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung told reporters the new regulation
“has become necessary to prevent unwanted incidents. Polite dress is also good
for House members.” Tthe lawmaker is a member of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle. “We’re improving the image of the House, little by little.
My staff are mostly male, and those who are female wear jilbab,” or head
scarves. But some lawmakers are not convinced of the need for the new
regulation.
“There are plenty of other steps that could improve the image of the
House. For example, the Speaker could stop wasting his breath on
counter-productive topics,” said Bambang Soesatyo of the House commission that
handles legal affairs. Bambang went on to suggest that “sexiness” was in the
eye of the beholder.
“The limits of ‘sexy’ are relative to people’s respective values,”
Bambang said.
“Deciding what constitutes sexy clothing isn’t as simple as measuring a
miniskirt. It could include a tight blouse, a couple of undone buttons, a
flirtatious manner and so on.”
The new rule would be impossible to implement, he said, citing for
example the possible ban on short skirts.
“Maybe wearing a long skirt but putting cleavage on show would be just
as flirtatious. Those things could all be said to be tempting,” he said.
Masruchah, the deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence
Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said the ban was inappropriate and perhaps
unconstitutional.
“If the issue is people’s mode of dress, that’s a private matter and
one that can’t be controlled by the state,” Masruchah said. “So I think that if
this is made into a rule, it will be inconsistent with the constitution.”
“The House of Representatives doesn’t need to be worrying about
miniskirts. As far as I can see, [staffers’ dress] has been completely normal,”
said Golkar lawmaker Nurul Arifin. “No one is over the top. Please, gentlemen,
don’t have such lecherous minds.”
However, former models-turned-politicians Venna Melinda and Noura Dian
Hartarony said they support the regulation. There has been no word from
Democratic Party lawmaker Angelina Sondakh, a 33-year-old former Miss Indonesia
and glamorous party figure who was implicated by Nazaruddin in the athletes
village scandal, saying he had heard her tell an internal party fact-finding
team in May that she had accepted Rp9 billion from Mallarangeng and his
ministry’s secretary, Wafid Muharram, for the athletes’ village project.
“If we respect the institution [the House], we must respect the
regulation. I will really approve such regulation,” Vena Melinda said on
Tuesday morning. “I actually don’t understand whom they’re trying to address
to; they could be guests, staffers or personal assistants. But the rule is made
to be obeyed,” added the former Ms. Indonesia and soap opera actress.
The House's Household Affairs Committee has yet to decide what types of
clothing will fall under the ban, but Refrizal, deputy chairman of the
committee, said that miniskirts should not be allowed in the parliamentary
building complex. Several lawmakers and a women's rights commission have spoken
out against the move, calling the regulation unconstitutional.
But lawmakers Vena and Noura, a former model, are fine with the ban,
explaining that the rule could help form “the character of the nation.”
“Children these days are never taught of how they should dress in
accordance to the places. Such regulations need to be encouraged. Let’s become
a cultured nation,” Noura said, adding she had seen a number of staffers
wearing miniskirts and showing cleavage at work.
Asia Sentinel
With reporting from Jakarta Globe
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