Government delays bill ratification

JAKARTA (JP): The government bowed to extreme public pressure on Friday as it announced that it would delay the ratification of the controversial state security bill.

As Jakarta was rocked for the second day with bloody protests against the bill, the government announced that it would take further steps to "socialize" it before implementation.

However, no time was given on when President B.J. Habibie will finally sign the bill which was passed by the House of Representatives (DPR) on Thursday.

"In view of the situation where several segments of society still do not understand the essence of the new bill in comparison to the (old) 1959 State of Emergency Law, the government has decided to postpone its implementation," Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said.

Separately, TNI chief Gen. Wiranto said that he intended to further "socialize" the bill so no suspicions would be harbored.

Nevertheless, he could not say how long it would take: "Well, we can't put a set date on it. It depends how fast the public can absorb it."

The area around Jakarta's primary intersection, the Semanggi cloverleaf, which is adjacent to the House of Representatives building, has been the scene of brutal protests against the bill. At least four people have died in the protests.

The House was deaf to the pleas of protesters and passed the bill on Thursday. But as the death toll mounted on Friday and rioting spread, the government, in an apparent attempt to quell the violence, decided to postpone the bill's implementation.

Critics claim the bill yields unchecked power to the government and military.

Despite the promise to delay the bill's implementation, indignities continued.

The Forum of Five, which brings together the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the People's Mandate Party (PAN), Democratic People's Party (PRD) and the Justice and Unity Party (PKP), warned at a gathering here on Friday that once a new House convenes it would reject the bill.

PAN secretary-general Faisal Basri said the bill was tantamount to handing a blank cheque to Habibie and other elements in the military.

Faisal warned that "the revocation of the bill would become our priority agenda in the new House".

The House officially dissolved on Friday. New legislators and members of the People's Consultative Assembly will be sworn in between Oct. 1 and Oct. 3.

PKP executive Sutradara Gintings bluntly accused Habibie and Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto of harboring ulterior motives in pushing the bill through before the House dissolved.

"Why force it through then?" he remarked, adding that the government and military should make "an open and formal statement that the bill will not be invoked under the guise of maintaining security during the next General Session of the Assembly".

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation issued a statement on Friday which specifically pointed out weaknesses in Article 7(1), which states that a state of emergency could be declared by the president "with the consultation or approval of the DPR".

"This means that the president doesn't really need the approval of the House... The president thus wields tremendous power," the foundation said.

Prior to the government's announcement to delay the bill, Golkar Party chief Akbar Tandjung already said he would propose a brief suspension of the bill's implementation, given the public misunderstanding over it.

Nevertheless, Akbar, whose faction at the House paved the way for the bill to be passed, contended that Golkar was satisfied with the final outcome as 80 percent of the original draft was modified to ensure the principles of human rights were protected.

"If it didn't (protect human rights), then we would have rejected it," Akbar claimed. (emf/33/prb)