EXPLAINER: Why is Indonesia's new criminal code so controversial?

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Among the most contentious articles are those that criminalize sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail. Cohabitation between unmarried couples is also banned.

And since they also apply to foreigners, the laws can scare away visitors, including those coming to the prime tourism destination of Bali.In addition, the articles that ban insulting the president or state institutions, blasphemy, protesting without notification and spreading views deemed to run counter to Indonesia’s secular state ideology have also raised fears about threats to freedom of expression and association.

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, deputy chairperson of the Indonesian Employers’ Association , said the rules would do “more harm than good” and act a deterrent to investment. But recent public opposition has been muted in comparison and parliament has revised some of the articles even though critics say the changes do not go far enough and describe the bill’s passage as a “huge setback” for Indonesia’s young democracy.Deputy justice minister, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, told Reuters ahead of the bill’s passage he was proud his country would have a criminal code “in line with Indonesian values” and it was time to move beyond its colonial-era laws.

Veering from the main issue, I am just awed by how lawmakers in Indonesia ang other countries live democracy in their own political arenas. Very much unlike in the Philippines, where most lawmakers are beholden to the maneuvers of the highest officials. A democracy at its worst!

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