REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SEMARANG -- Indonesia's Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo denied on Saturday that his ministry has ordered the cancellation of bylaws banning liquor.

He rather reiterated that all regions need to have such bylaws on the ground that the circulation of liquor endangers the public, particularly the younger generations.

"I am ready to relinquish my position as home affairs minister if I have prohibited any bylaws banning liquor. The news is slanderous," he countered.

He underlined that his denial is also intended to clarify growing rumors that the ministry has revoked the bylaws banning liquor.

In principle, the bylaws must be enforced in all regions consistently and properly. Besides, liquor triggers criminal offenses, he argued.

In fact, the ministry supports the Papuan governor's policy to enforce such bylaws consistently, he reiterated.

He clarified that many bylaws that included a ban on liquor actually overlapped and, therefore, the ministry had asked various concerned regions to synchronize them.

Earlier in the day, the Surabaya city executive board of Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) lodged a protest against the ministry over the revocation of bylaws banning liquor, saying the move ran counter to the religious affairs minister's regulation.

"It also violates religious teachings that liquor is a source of all kinds of criminal offenses, such as murder, sexual crimes, accidents and drug abuse," a spokesman for the NU's city executive board, Dr. Achmad Muhibbin Zuhri, M.Ag., protested.

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