Indonesia discusses the ban of alcohol controversially. The government is preparing a new law that would ban the consumption of alcohol in the country.
With a population of 260 million, Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but it is also home to several influential religious minorities, and a secular government. Influential religious minorities are Christian, Hindu and Buddhist groups. The country’s government is struggling to reconcile the difference between Bali, predominantly Hindu and liberal, with conservative Muslim provinces like Aceh, where alcohol is viewed as a scourge on society.
The bill before Parliament would ban the production, distribution, sale, consumption and possession of alcoholic beverages among Indonesians and foreign tourists alike. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison.
The political parties backing the bill contend that alcohol should be banned for health reasons, not religious ones.
President Joko Widodo’s governing coalition, which plays a key role in drafting legislation and holds a majority in Parliament, is against the ban. His government has proposed increased regulation instead, including mandatory licensing for stores that sell alcohol and identification checks for buyers.
But Indonesian parties have a history of breaking with their own coalitions on contentious legislation. (Two of the Islamic-based parties backing the bill are members of the governing coalition.) There seems to be ample reason to assume that the bill could become law, given that previous attempts to ban alcohol have never gotten this far.
The commission debating the legislation includes six large secular-nationalist parties, most of them also in the coalition, that could easily have stopped the bill but elected to let it pass.
In the contest of ideas, facts and ideology, the coming weeks will show which arguments gained the most traction.
