Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Chief of the Mummadiyah Islamic organization Din Syamsuddin said he will ask a number of Islamic mass organizations to stage a rally to protest against a mass organization bill on Friday.

"Tomorrow we will altogether stage a rally outside the DPR (House of Representatives) building. We hope all will come after Friday prayers," he said on the sidelines of a discussion on combating terrorism without terror and violating human rights here on Thursday.

Earlier, Din suggested that the bill which is entering the final phase of deliberations in the parliament be temporarily suspended and transformed into an assembly bill.

The assembly bill is much better than the mass organization bill because it is more clearly linked to the 1945 Constitution, he said.

He said the mass organization bill is politically motivated and has strong nuance to serve as a means of political legitimacy for the government.

"The mass organization bill is discriminative because it will make political parties a commander. This bill only applies to mass organizations which are not the underbow organizations of political parties. This is unsound orientation to build democracy," he said.

Many have feared the bill, if passed into law, will become a repressive means because it will give strong authority to crack down on groups critical of the government`s policies and weaken the role of civil society as the controlling force of the government and law enforcement agencies.

"If the mass organization bill is passed into law it will be proof of the government`s and the DPR`s arrogance," he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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