It marks the most illiberal turn in Indonesia since the Muslim-majority country of 276m people embraced democracy in the late 1990s
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskA period of “socialisation” was supposed to have taken place before the new code could be reintroduced to parliament. Good luck with that: among its many harsh rules, the code criminalises cohabitation and sex outside marriage, expands the provisions for blasphemy and makes it illegal for Indonesians to leave their religion or persuade anyone to be a non-believer.
Not all of the code’s elements are retrograde. For example, it recommends that the death penalty should be used only as a “last resort”, and allows for death sentences to be converted to long prison terms in the event of good conduct. It also reinforces, for victims of rape, an exception to the existing ban on abortion: they will be able to seek an abortion within 12 weeks of conception instead of, as hitherto, six.
For the most part, though, the code represents a very sharp turn for the worse. Criminalising consensual sex outside marriage, with up to a year in prison for those found guilty, represents a gross invasion of privacy. It could especially imperil millions of indigenous Indonesians and rural Muslims whose marriages often lack certification. The new code’s defenders say it will ensure prosecutions only take place on the strength of a complaint brought by a close family member of the accused.
The move undermines, to an extraordinary degree, the government’s stated priority of attracting “digital nomads” and international tourists—upon which parts of the archipelago such as Bali already depend. It also seems likely to produce an uptick in child marriages, as a preemptive measure undertaken by parents to stop their offspring having premarital sex.
It is not due to take effect for three years, by which time Jokowi, who is forbidden by the constitution to seek a third presidential term, will not be in office. Yet his name, assuming he signs the new code into law, would be on it. It would be a disgraceful legacy.This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline"Bad news for Bali"
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