Defense ministry prepares draft to amend TNI laws
Defense ministry prepares draft to amend TNI laws
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Defense is drafting a review of Defense Law No.
3/2002 and Indonesian Military (TNI) Law No. 34/2004 aimed at
eliminating the intervention of the House of Representatives in
the appointment of TNI commander.
Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Thursday that the
amendment would also affect several articles in laws that enable
the President to exercise his/her powers as TNI supreme
commander.
"The planned amendment is expected to eliminate the pivotal
role played by lawmakers in the appointment of TNI chief, so that
the president no longer has to seek approval in the process,"
Juwono told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the
Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Shu Min, who handed over aid
amounting to US$300,000 for tsunami survivors in Aceh province.
Under the draft amendment, lawmakers can only present their
opinion to the President in the matter of the appointment of TNI
commander, but the President is not bound to follow their
opinion, Juwono said.
The planned amendment will also put the TNI chief under the
defense minister, a radical change from the current status of the
TNI commander who answers to the president.
The amendment plan comes on the heels of a debate between
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and lawmakers over the
replacement of TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, which many
thought had opened up opportunities for both sides to gain from
the change of guard in the armed forces.
Based on the current defense law, the House has the right to
scrutinize candidates for TNI chief who have been proposed by the
president. The President can only appoint a TNI chief with the
House's endorsement.
The Constitution states that the appointment of TNI and
National Police chiefs is the President's prerogative.
Lawmakers are also granted the same right in the appointment
of National Police chief in accordance with Law No. 2/2002 on
National Police.
"Through the amendment, we'll try to avoid what's termed as
legislative control over the president's prerogative," Juwono
stated.
The ministry is also discussing the mechanisms and timeframe
for the repositioning of the TNI chief.
"Let experts and TNI headquarters sit together with us (the
ministry) to share views over this issue," Juwono said in
response to an idea to put the TNI under the ministry's
supervision and the National Police under the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Military analyst T. Hari Prihantono from the ministry's think-
tank Pro Patria supported Juwono's plan.
"The amendment to the defense law is required considering the
circumstances when the Law was being drawn up," he said, citing
the post-New Order euphoria among politicians, who at that time
were eager to seize political control over the military and
national police from the president.
Hari said the race for control over the TNI and police force
had accelerated the fall of former President Abdurrahman Wahid
("Gus Dur") in 2001, who was impeached by the People's
Consultative Assembly after he replaced National Police chief
Gen. Surojo Bimantoro with his deputy Lt. Gen. Chairuddin Ismail.
"Based on the amended 1945 Constitution, the appointment of
TNI and National Police chiefs is the President's prerogative,"
Hari told The Jakarta Post.