The potential legalisation of gambling in Indonesia has resurfaced as a means for higher state revenue, but opponents argue the activity risks fraying the cultural fabric of the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.
Lawmaker Galih Kartasasmita floated the idea during a meeting with the finance ministry on May 8, where he said Indonesia should follow the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates, which legalised gambling last year.
“The UAE is ready to run a casino, [an] Arab country [finally] runs a casino. Their ministries and institutions are out of the box,” Galih said.
Gambling is forbidden – whether offline or online – in Indonesia, where nearly 90 per cent of the population is Muslim.
In October, the UAE granted its first commercial gaming operator licence to Las Vegas-based hotel and casino operator Wynn Resorts, becoming the first Gulf country to legalise the sector.
A few days later, Galih clarified he was not proposing to allow gambling in Indonesia, but merely suggesting the ministry could seek more creative ways to reduce Indonesia’s dependency on natural resources.
