PAN and PKB reject state security bill<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Opposition to the state security bill continued
\non Thursday, with the National Mandate Party (PAN) and National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) demanding the House of Representatives drop
\nthe government-sponsored draft law.<\/p>\n
PKB secretary-general Muhaimin Iskandar said his party would
\nreject the bill because the current House did not have the
\nlegitimacy to deliberate its terms.<\/p>\n
\"If the House heeds the people's aspirations and increasing
\nprotests, it should stop the deliberation of the bill and leave
\nthe job to the next House instead,\" he said in a seminar on the
\nbill held by the Mass Communications Forum.<\/p>\n
Separately, PAN secretary-general Faisal Basri said his party
\nwas opposed to the bill because it feared that it would be
\nmisused by the government during the General Session of the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in November.<\/p>\n
\"Regardless of all significant changes made into the bill, we
\nare worried that the bill will only justify the government in
\npreventing the people from holding demonstrations and protests
\nbefore and during the MPR General Session,\" he told the House
\ncommittee in charge of deliberating the bill on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said student and mass demonstrations were expected to color
\nthe Session because of anger over President B.J. Habibie's
\nhandling of East Timor and the failure to resolve allegations of
\ncorruption against his predecessor, Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Habibie will deliver his accountability speech before the MPR
\nin the Session, scheduled to take place between Nov. 1 and Nov.
\n10.<\/p>\n
Another speaker in the seminar, Faisal Razi from the
\nDemocratic People's Party (PRD), called on all political parties
\nand mass organizations to reject the bill, which gives authority
\nto the military to use force and take wide-ranging measures in a
\nstate of emergency.<\/p>\n
\"PRD is against the bill because it gives new authority to the
\nmilitary, which has lost the people's confidence because of its
\ntarnished past image,\" he said.<\/p>\n
PAN and PRD also urged the House to annul the restrictive 1959
\nlaw concerning a state of emergency, which is now in effect in
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
Agus Muhyidin, the House committee chairman who also spoke in
\nthe seminar, said it would depend on the House as a whole whether
\nto halt deliberation of the bill.<\/p>\n
The House is expected to endorse the draft law on Sept. 23.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the Indonesian Military (TNI) Maj. Gen. Sudrajat
\nappealed to all quarters opposed to the bill to recognize TNI's
\n\"goodwill\" in accepting amendments.<\/p>\n
\"TNI has been open to gradual reform to repair its image. Many
\nsubstantial changes have been made in the bill and the military
\nagrees with the changes in order to accommodate the people's
\ndemands,\" he said in the seminar.<\/p>\n
Syamsuddin, a member of the National Commission of Human
\nRights and a retired Army general, hailed the changes made by
\nlegislators, saying the present version was far more democratic
\nthan the original draft<\/p>\n
\"All sides opposing the bill should reconsider their rejection
\nof the bill,\" he said, citing the bill guarantee of law
\nsupremacy, human rights and democracy in a state of emergency.<\/p>\n
Student rallies protesting the bill continued in Surabaya and
\nYogyakarta on Thursday.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, hundreds of students took to the streets in
\nseparate demonstrations. A student group identified as the Arek
\nSurabaya Association protested outside the local council to
\ndemand counselors reject the bill.<\/p>\n
Another 400 students claiming to represent the Communication
\nForum of Surabaya Students (Formasa) held a free-speech forum in
\nfront of the provincial legislative body on Jl. Indrapura. They
\nsaid the bill would pave the way for the military to strengthen
\nits grip on power.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, more than 200 students representing the
\nIndonesian Front for Youth Struggle (FPPI) marched through the
\ntown. The march caused traffic congestion on major streets.<\/p>\n
The students also burned tire stashes and carried a coffin
\ncovered by a red cloth contained with signatures of students who
\nrejected the bill. (23\/nur\/rms)<\/p>",
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