CAIRO, January 28, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Breaking an official silence, the Indonesian government finally vocalized opposition to the planned debut of a local edition of the raunchy magazine Playboy, admitting that its legal hands remain tied, The Jakarta Post reported on Saturday, January 28.

"The government is in the position of disagreeing with it," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told journalists on Friday, January 27, when asked about the planned publication.

"This isn't America, you know. Even Singapore doesn't allow the magazine to be published there. So the plan is not proper."

Ponti Carrolus, director of PT Velvet Silver Media which holds the Indonesian license from the US-based magazine, recently vowed to go ahead with the launch of the local version despite growing protests.

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization with some 40 million members, has reacted in fury over the planned debut.

The Association of Muhammadiyah Students (IMM) also voiced strong rejection to the planned publication of the magazine for a concern that it might destroy the morality of the nation.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim state with a population of 220 million, 80% of them are Muslims.

Founded in 1953, Playboy has about 20 local editions around the world that cater to local taste rather than simply exporting and translating its US content.

The vice president said, however, the government had no legal ground to ban the publication.

"The government has no authority at all when it comes to licensing for mass media," Kalla asserted.

"We no longer have what once was called the SIUPP (publishing license), so anyone can publish anything. If we applied the SIUPP again, (the press) would definitely be infuriated."

Under former Indonesian President Soeharto, who ruled for nearly three decades, all media outlets had to get a SIUPP from the government, which was seen by many as a tool to repress freedom of speech, said the daily.

Since Soeharto resigned in 1998, publishers are only required to register their publications with the government.

A bill is before the Indonesian House of Representatives on pornography and porn-related acts, but it may be passed after the debut of the publication, expected in March.

Kalla said measures to curb the content of such adult magazines should be part of the bill when it is passed into law.

He also criticized Ponti's statements on the content of the local edition of Playboy.

"It would be fooling the consumers. You shouldn't provide false fantasies to consumers by using the name of Playboy but with different content," he said.

"But if there's nudity, it would be against our ethics here."