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Anti-smoking Groups Protest Houses Planned Tobacco Bill

By. Margareth S Anton

Less than two hours after the House of Representatives (DPR) formally included the tobacco bill on its priority list, several advocacy groups voiced their opposition.At a plenary meeting on Thursday, the House decided to include the tobacco bill on the list of 70 items of draft legislation to be deliberated in 2013. The tobacco bill is among the bills that have caused public controversy. Other controversial bills deal with gender equality, alcoholic beverages and national security to name a few.The Indonesian Consumers Protection Foundation (YLKI) and the National Commission of Tobacco Control questioned the inclusion of the tobacco bill on the Houses list of prioritized bills. Hakim Sorimu-da Pohan, a member of the tobacco control commission, questioned the rush to deliberate the bill without prior public consultation.

“Based on the Houses internal rules, every bill must be proposed with a draft and academic documents. But, this [tobacco] bill hasonly a name. We dont know the purpose of the bill,” Hakim, a doctor and a former lawmaker, said during a press conference less than two hours after the Houses plenary meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.The groups worry that the bill will protect the nations tobacco industry as it was initially proposed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, with the support from the Indonesian Tobacco Society Alliance (AMTI).Tulus Abadi from the YLKI said that the PDI-P faction had withdrawn its support for the bill, however leaders of the Houses legislation body (Baleg) had kept pushing for its deliberation. “We will soon file a complaint with the Houses Ethics Council, urging them to investigate the Baleg leaders,” he said.

Another member of the tobacco control commission, Kartono Muhammad, said that the bills inclusion raised suspicions that Baleg leaders sided with the tobacco companies.The House has previously rejected two bills related to the negative impact of tobacco. The Houses Commission IX proposed a bill on the impact of tobacco products in2009. Baleg turned it down, citing the huge socio-economic implications of the bill for citizens, tobacco farmers in particular.In 2011, the commission revised the bill and proposed it under a new name; the bill on public health protection from the perils of cigarettes and similar products. The bill, which was adapted from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), was rejected.The World Health Organization estimates that Indonesia has 57.6 million male smokers – the worlds third-highest – and 2.3 million female smokers. As much as 70 percent of Indonesian smokers are from low-income groups.The government reaped Rp 77 trillion (US$7.98 billion) from tobacco taxes last year, however, that barely covers the spending on health problems related to the product. According to the Health Ministry, economic losses and health costs from smoking-associated diseases reached Rp 245.4 trillion a year.In addition, the Houses Commission VIII overseeing religion and social affairs has dropped an article from the draft gender equality bill, which would allow men or women to freely choose their spouses, following protests from Islamic womens groups.Members of the commission said that the decision was made in order to accommodate the concerns of Muslim women, who had told the commission that granting such freedom to both genders contradicted Islamic law, which stated thatbride and groom should be of the same religion.Some activists had also urged the commission in several hearings to drop the article, Article 12, arguing that it could lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as encouraging women to opt for employment other than being a housewife, (yps)