Akbar hints at TNI bill delay
Akbar hints at TNI bill delay
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
After insisting upon the endorsement of the military bill by
September, the House of Representatives Speaker Abkar Tandjung
hinted on Friday that the House may be unable to finish
deliberating the draft bill on time.
"I can't guarantee the bill's deliberation will finish soon,
given the increasing pressure from the public," he told the press
after attending an event on Friday marking the first anniversary
of the Constitutional Court.
Military experts and non-governmental organization activists
have been urging the House to delay the deliberation of the bill,
which they said sought to restore the military's territorial
role.
Under the leadership of former president Soeharto, the
territorial authority of the Indonesian Military (TNI), which
allows the deployment of troops from the national to the regental
levels, enabled it to control the people's political movement.
Akbar admitted the House had planned to finish the bill in its
final session, from Aug. 16 to the end of September.
The timeframe was developed apparently to give the
military/police faction a chance to participate in the
legislation.
The military and police are expected to withdraw its
representation in the House by the end of September, while new
legislators elected on April 5 will be sworn in on Oct. 1.
Activists had rejected a rushed deliberation, as they believed
the draft bill submitted on June 30 -- allegedly prepared by the
TNI -- was flawed.
A number of defense experts and retired military officers also
presented similar views on the bill before legislators.
The House was to have the first meeting with government
officials on Aug. 24 to discuss the controversial bill.
Secretary of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P) faction Panda Nababan blamed Cabinet members for pushing
President Megawati Soekarnoputri to sign the passage of the
controversial bill to the House for deliberation by its final
session.
Megawati "had no choice" in the matter, as she faced the
"authoritarian manner" of the interim coordinating minister of
political and security affairs as well as TNI Commander Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto and others who had pushed for the immediate
submission of the bill to the House, said Panda.
Among the bill's contentious clauses are those that allow
serving military officers to fill positions in state
administrations without retiring from active duty.
However, military sources say the clause referred to select
posts reserved for military personnel, such as in the defense
ministry.
Former defense minister Mahfud M.D., who is also deputy
chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), agreed that the
bill needed further public scrutiny.
He added that the PKB was completing its own draft of the bill
that included key clauses on soldiers' welfare.