Government delays bill ratification

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)