Golkar Withdraws Support for Family Resilience Bill

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Golkar Party faction of the House of Representatives (DPR) said they have been caught off guard that a cadre Endang Maria Astuti proposed a draft bill on family resilience or RUU Ketahanan Keluarga.

The faction head Nurul Arifin stated that her party withdrew its support for the bill.

“We are caught off guard that our member is among the initiators of the family resilience bill. We withdraw our support for this bill,” said Nurul in a press release on Thursday, February 20.

Nurul said that Endang should have consulted and presented her idea to the faction before initiating a bill. According to Nurul, the House's legislative board (Baleg) had objected to the draft since it was first introduced.

Nurul opined that the country should not intervene in domestic affairs on raising children considering each family and children has its own entity. The bill reportedly initiated because the country has the responsibility for the family welfare had been accommodated through several programs such as the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP), the Family Hope Program (PKH), and the national social health insurance (BPJS).

“I see that his bill aims at creating homogenous families, setting aside heterogeneous elements,” Nurul said.

As for the drafts related to domestic violence, either sexual, physical, or economic ones, Nurul stressed it had been stipulated in the Law on Domestic Violence and the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Other than Endang, the initiators of the draft of the family resilience bill include Ledia Hanifa and Netty Prasetiyani from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Sodik Mudjahid from Gerindra, and Ali Taher from the National Mandate Party (PAN). The bill sparked public controversy since a number of its articles considered to regulate private matters, such as criminal charges for sperm and ovum donors, rehabilitation for LGBT people, and the rule overseeing masochism.

HALIDA BUNGA