DPR delays enactment of police bill

DPR delays enactment of police bill

Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) agreed on Wednesday to
delay the enactment of the controversial bill on the National
Police in a bid to publicize it and get input from the public,
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said.

Akbar told a media conference that the decision to delay the
enactment of the bill had been approved by all factions at a
plenary session.

"All the factions expressed their agreement to postpone the
plan to pass the bill into law," he said.

Akbar said that the postponement was made in response to
strong public criticism over the bill, which is considered to
provide police with extraordinary power.

He explained that the House had assigned a special committee
to be in charge of promoting the bill to the public.

"The postponement will not be too long as the bill is expected
to be enacted before the Lebaran (the post-fasting holiday of
Idul Fitri) celebration in December," Akbar said.

The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
faction chairman, Arifin Panigoro, who accompanied Akbar to the
meeting, said the special committee would have a very limited
time to revise the bill. "They will have to finish the revision
within 19 working days," Arifin said.

Meanwhile, Adnan Pandupraja of the Indonesian Police Watch
said that its familiarization should effectively be used by the
committee to revise the bill in a transparent way.

Adnan said that the revision should include the restructuring
of the police's duties as the bill was simply adopting the
definition written in Decree No. VII/2000 of the People's
Consultative Assembly.

"Maintaining security and order is given priority as the
police's primary duty in the decree. It should be changed to
protecting the public," Adnan said, adding that some of the
articles were vague and could be prone to misuse.

The National Police bill is scheduled to be passed into law at
the House's plenary session on Wednesday.

Non-governmental organizations and lawyers have warned that
many loopholes exist in the bill and give the advantage to the
police, including the articles on the police's retirement age and
its position in the governmental system, which could be easily
exploited to take over the sociopolitical function abandoned by
the Indonesian Military in the government.