Aa Gym’s polygamous marriage, and the sour reaction to it from many, has caused the government to toughen its anti-polygamy stance.

The, for many, bizarre scenes shown on television screens ad nauseum recently of Aa Gym‘s two wives strolling about in consort with their husband, first wife Teteh Nini (Ninih Muthmainah Muhsin) by his side, second wife Alfarini Eridani dutifully trailing behind, have seemingly been too much for some and the negative feelings aroused by them have not been ignored by the president, and his wife.

It appears that president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s special SMS message service was inundated with complaints from the nation’s womenfolk and this, at least in part, led to Yudhoyono on the 5th to call the minister for womens’ empowerment, Meutia Hatta, as well as the director general of the Islam section of the department of religion, Nazaruddin Umar, and the cabinet secretary, Sudi Silalahi, to the presidential palace to discuss the matter.

Meutia Hatta said afterwards: antara

The president cares a lot for women and he wants society to be at ease.
(Presiden mempunyai kepedulian besar terhadap kaum perempuan dan ia menginginkan ketentraman dalam masyarakat.)

She also claimed that Yudhoyono has decided to widen the restrictions placed on polygamous marriages, which currently apply only to civil servants and serving police and military personnel. However there is, for now, some confusion in the media as to the nature of what is intended. Some reports have it that government officials, such as governors, mayors, parliamentarians, will also be forbidden from having more than one wife, except after fulfilling certain requirements, while other reports say that the restrictions will extend to all men.

Meanwhile Nazaruddin Umar said that Islam upheld the principle of monogamy. Polygamy was only permissible if men were able to be fair to their wives but this was impossible, according to the Quran. mediaindo