INDONESIA: Yoyoh Yusroh is promoting the pornography bill

Deputy chairman of the committee deliberating the pornography bill wants articles revised to minimize government abuse

Jakarta Post
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
    
By A'an Suryana

Legislator Yoyoh Yusroh may well be the busiest person in the House of Representatives after being appointed to the House special committee deliberating the pornography bill. In this capacity, she has participated in many meetings and hosted many discussions, traveling across the country to seek feedback from the public on the controversial bill.

It has not been an easy task for Yoyoh, the supporter of the bill, who has been meeting mounting opposition since the bill was floated last year.

She knows that people are worried that the bill would curtail freedom of expression, would restrict women's right to dress as they wish and might open up the chance for corrupt state officials to abuse the law for their own gain. She has to accept all the feedback.

"But, there is nothing to worry about because we will accommodate their concerns. We will fix the articles so that the revised articles minimize the opportunity for government officials to abuse the law," said Yoyoh, who understands that politics is the art of compromise.

Yoyoh's position in the committee is crucial as she is one of the driving forces behind the bill's deliberation. Yoyoh, who is a member of the right-wing Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), was appointed as the committee's deputy chairman.

As the bill's supporter, she has campaigned for the bill and assured people that it would be crucial to help stamp out lingering obscenity in the country as seen in television programs and pornographic publications. "I am a mother and I know that the impact of obscene pictures and TV programs will be detrimental to children's morality," said Yoyoh, who is the parent of 13 children, the youngest being three and the oldest 20.

The pornography bill itself has a long history. The bill's first draft was proposed to the House in 1999 by a group calling themselves People Concerned with Young People's Future. The draft was then discussed in the House and after the House approved it, the bill was then filed with the government. However, the then nationalist government of Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected the bill for fear it would divide the nation.

When Megawati lost the 2004 election, it paved the way for the conservative elements within the House to reopen discussion on the bill. The effort was fruitful as it led to the establishment of the special committee, which began work in September last year. The committee will discuss the bill's contents in early May before it is brought before the House plenary meeting mid-May.

Yoyoh, 44, who originates from Tangerang, is married to Budhi Darmawan, also a PKS activist, who graduated from the University of Indonesia. She met Budhi in Arief Rahman Hakim mosque in the University of Indonesia compound in Salemba, Central Jakarta, which has been the center of activities of right-wing Muslim students. Budhi is now an expert advisor at the State Ministry for Youth and Sports.

Politics itself is not new to Yoyoh. She has been active in various organizations since she was a university student at the UIN Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in South Jakarta. In her 20s, she joined the Indonesian Islamic Students (PII), the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII) and Jakarta Preacher's Corp.

She became intensely involved in missionary activities after she graduated from university and for this, she earned an award from the International Muslim Women's Union (IMWU) in 2002 and 2003. She also taught in several universities and schools, including Alhikmah Islamic Study Institute and Nurul Fikri Institute for Kindergarten Teachers. She also helped establish the Salimah Muslim Women's Sisterhood Foundation and Mother's Hope Foundation.

Her vast network and activities have given her the vehicle to enter politics.

She began her political career when she joined the Justice Party in 1998 and was appointed head of the party's women's division. She was nominated by her party as a candidate for the Jakarta City Council, but she lost the 1999 election.

The opportunity to enter the legislature finally came in 2003 when she was appointed as a House legislator, replacing another PK member who quit the House to assume a government post. She then ran for election in 2004 and she was reelected as a legislator.

Not only has entering the House been valuable for her political career, it has also opened up her mind. While she was a member of the Justice Party (which later changed its name to the Prosperous Justice Party), she only exchanged ideas with fellow conservative Muslims whose frame of reference was similar to hers, but after entering the House, she has had to deal with fellow legislators from different religions, ethnicities and schools of thought.

"Initially, it was hard, but I realized it's a democracy. I was often locked in the battle of ideas, we often differed on many issues, but our relationship remains intact," said Yoyoh.

She is also aware that people can fight for their ideas but all have to be surrendered to the democratic process.

"We fight for our ideas in the House, including in promoting the pornography bill, but if the outcome is not what we hoped for, we have to accept the reality," she said.

Date Posted: 4/12/2006