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.