Much ado about bill<\/p>\n
The controversy over the National Police bill, which erupted
\non the eve of its passage into law by the House of
\nRepresentatives on Wednesday, suggests that the public has never
\nbeen given a chance to thoroughly scrutinize the legislation.
\nHowever, this lack of public debate is typical of other laws
\npreviously passed by the House.<\/p>\n
Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in urging the
\nHouse to refrain from endorsing the bill, have warned that the
\nnew legislation would virtually turn the National Police into an
\nomnipotent force without democratic checks and balances.<\/p>\n
The fact that these NGOs, who are active in the promotion of
\nhuman rights, have only become aware of these inadequacies at
\nthis very late stage, suggests that their comments were never
\nsought by the House during deliberation of the bill.<\/p>\n
The NGOs, to some extent, could plead ignorance because they
\nwere not consulted. In retrospect, however, they could have been
\nmore proactive and made themselves heard, even if their opinions
\nwere not solicited by the House.<\/p>\n
The 23 House members who have promised to block passage of the
\nbill when it is taken to a plenary session on Wednesday, however,
\ncould hardly plead ignorance about something that was going on
\nright under their noses. Four of these honorary members even sat
\non the special committee deliberating the bill, meaning that they
\nwere involved from start to finish.<\/p>\n
While it is heartening to see that they are responding
\npositively to the calls by the NGOs to oppose the bill's passage,
\ntheir action suggests the poor caliber of our elected politicians
\nin drafting and producing the laws of the country.<\/p>\n
The media, including yours truly, should also take some of the
\nblame for failing to keep the public abreast of the bill's
\ndeliberations until it was almost ready for endorsement. This is
\nanother one of those controversies that could have been avoided
\nif everyone, including the media, had done their jobs properly.<\/p>\n
There is certainly a strong case for the House to postpone
\npassage of the bill into law.<\/p>\n
The final version of the bill stipulates the various
\nauthorities and powers of police in conducting essentially police
\ntasks. But where it is lacking the most is in mechanisms designed
\nto place checks and balances on police power. And with the
\nNational Police chief solely accountable to the President, to
\nwhom he or she also reports, the prospect of the police being
\nturned into a personal tool of the President becomes all too
\nreal.<\/p>\n
The bill calls for the establishment of a National Police
\nCommission, but its powers are limited and, since it also reports
\nto the President, it will not be an independent institution that
\ncan control the powers of police.<\/p>\n
The bill's other major point of contention concerns the
\nmandatory retirement age for police officers being extended from
\n55 to 58 year of age, and to 60 years for officers with rare
\nexpertise. This supports the deep suspicions that many people in
\nthis country hold regarding the present police leadership.<\/p>\n
Critics argue that the clause was inserted to extend the terms
\nand powers of the existing leadership. Police argue that since
\nthey are severely understaffed, with a police-to-population ratio
\nof 1:850, against the minimum ideal of 1:450, extending the
\nretirement age would ease the problem while the force beefs up
\nits personnel in the coming years. This deep mistrust of the
\nexisting police leadership is deeply disturbing. If you can't
\neven trust the law enforcement agencies, who can you trust?<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that we need a new regulatory framework now
\nthat the National Police are no longer part of the Indonesian
\nMilitary. The police bill rightly recognizes the need for
\nIndonesia to move toward a strong civil society and the need to
\nprotect human rights. Sadly, this spirit is not reflected in the
\nsubstance of the new legislation.<\/p>\n
The bill needs further adjustment to take into account the
\nobjections of the NGOs. If the House endorses it as it stands on
\nWednesday, we hope President Megawati Soekarnoputri will not sign
\nit and instead send it back to the House for revision.<\/p>\n
This exercise in democracy has not been a complete waste of
\ntime as long as we have all learned a lesson: that everyone do
\ntheir job properly next time -- House members, NGOs and the
\nmedia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/much-ado-about-bill-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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