Contentious issues force House to delay TNI bill

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives will unlikely be able to finish deliberating the Indonesian Military (TNI) bill before ending its five-year term early next month, as many contentious issues remain unresolved, lawmakers say.

The House was scheduled to endorse the bill on Sept. 21, 2004, but it may have to delay it, after failing to reach agreements with the government on several crucial issues in the bill.

Lawmakers said on Thursday they were supposed to begin deliberating unsolved issues in a closed-door meeting on Friday. However, they decided to delay it until Sept. 16 as they wanted to take a recess for five days.

Since the talks on the military bill were opened on Aug. 26, only 162 of the total 373 items have been discussed, with legislators and the government being divided on many contentious issues.

"I don't know whether the bill's deliberations can be finished on schedule. It depends on the readiness of all House factions and the government to understand each other," said Amris Hasan, a deputy chairman of the House's Commission I for defense affairs.

Earlier, President Megawati Soekarnoputri and House Speaker Akbar Tandjung had called on legislators not to rush approving the TNI bill because of many the contentious issues that needed to be resolved.

The calls came after TNI chief Gen. Endiartono Sutarto demanded the House endorse the bill before ending its 1999-2004 period on Oct. 1, when 550 newly-elected legislators were sworn in.

Military analysts and human rights activists also made similar demands for the bill's delay.

Megawati assigned interim coordinating minister for political and security affairs Hari Sabarno, Endriartono and Ministry of Defense secretary-general Suprihadi to represent the government in the deliberations.

The crucial issues that sparked controversy during the deliberations included the TNI's position in the state administration and whether it should be directly under the control of the president or the defense ministry.

House factions and the government also differed on whether the military chief's post should be occupied alternately by generals from the Army, Navy and Air Force.

They were also divided on the issue regarding the need for the military to maintain its territorial role in the regions.

The government proposed the TNI be given authority to take preemptive action against groups suspected of threatening the national unity despite the absence of signs they would launch armed rebellion.

However, major factions in the House opposed the proposal, arguing that such a power could be abused by soldiers as had happened in the past.

Separately on Thursday, Suprihadi said the deliberation process of the bill was dynamic despite a lot of controversy.

"We cannot start the closed-door meeting on Friday due to the prolonged (open) discussions. The most important thing is that we will produce a qualified law," he said.

Suprihadi said the House and the government would do their best to finish the bill's deliberations. "We have discussed some crucial issues. There are still other less-crucial issues left," he said.