Major changes in draft of defense, security law<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Defense is drafting a new law to replace the
\nexisting defense law aimed at upgrading coordination between the
\ndefense and security functions of the Indonesian Military (TNI)
\nand the National Police, and putting the two forces under the
\nOffice of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and
\nSecurity Affairs.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the sidelines of a hearing with legislators on
\nTuesday, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono expected the draft
\nto be submitted to the House of Representatives within two
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
"We're assessing the coordination and synchronization between
\nthe TNI and the police. The two should be under the Coordinating
\nMinister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs because this
\noffice deals with both defense and security issues," he told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
With centralized coordination, Juwono said the two forces
\nwould cooperate better in securing and defending the country,
\nespecially in combating activities such as human trafficking and
\nillegal logging.<\/p>\n
Currently, the TNI and the police are under the direct
\nsupervision of the President.<\/p>\n
The two forces were once integrated under the name of
\nIndonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), but were later separated in 1999.<\/p>\n
Juwono's remark completely contradicted previous information
\nmade available by a team drafting revisions to laws on defense
\n(No. 3\/2002) and police (No. 32\/2004), who said that the TNI and
\nthe police would be put under the Ministry of Defense and
\nMinistry of Home Affairs respectively.<\/p>\n
Contacted for comment, a confused team member said Juwono's
\nremark was likely to be incorrect.<\/p>\n
The team member questioned the plan, saying the Ministry of
\nDefense would have no authority at all if the TNI was put under
\nthe control of another ministry.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the team is currently in talks with the
\nMinistry of Home Affairs regarding the plan to put police under
\ntheir authority.<\/p>\n
It is believed that the National Police would strongly object
\nto the plan because it would mean that a National Police chief
\nwould be positioned under a home affairs minister, who are mostly
\nrecruited from Army top brass.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/major-changes-in-draft-of-defense-security-law-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}