House endorses regulations on terrorism after four months
House endorses regulations on terrorism after four months
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Security officials now have a firm legal basis to deal with
terrorism across the country as the House of Representatives
(DPR) endorsed two government regulations as antiterrorism bills.
The bills, one on terrorism eradication, the other on the
application of the antiterrorism draft for the Bali terrorist
attacks, were officially endorsed by legislators on Thursday,
paving the way for President Megawati Soekarnoputri to enact them
into laws.
During a House plenary meeting, two factions openly rejected
the government regulations, while seven others accepted them with
some notes.
With the House endorsing the two bills, deliberations on two
other terrorism bills will be stopped. Minister of Justice and
Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Thursday the government
would withdraw the bills as soon as possible.
The bills were drafted in response to the deadly Bali bombing
on Oct. 12 which killed at least 202 people and injured over 350
others, mostly foreigners.
Yusril said his ministry would soon prepare revisions to those
laws in response to the demands by House factions.
"The bills on the revisions to those terrorism laws will not
take much time," Yusril said on his acceptance speech.
Some factions wanted article 28, which allows investigators to
detain suspected terrorists for seven days without clear charges,
be scrapped.
Before legislators endorsed the bills, there was strong
opposition from two factions, the Reform faction consisting of
the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Justice Party (PK), and
the Daulatul Ummah Party (PDU) faction consisting of small
Islamic parties.
This opposition forced House deputy speaker Soetardjo
Soerjogoeritno, who presided over the meeting, to adjourn for an
informal meeting with faction leaders.
The half-an-hour meeting could not ease the tension, prompting
factions to vote on those articles.
A total of 220 legislators from seven factions voted for the
endorsement while members of the Reform and the PDU factions
refused to vote.
"We are not responsible for the endorsement of those laws,"
said Patrialis Akbar of the Reform faction.
Some members of the Reform faction, Alvin Lie, Mutammimul Ula,
and Mashadi walked out of the meeting hall. Hartono Mardjono of
the PDU faction did the same thing.
Article 22 of the Constitution stipulates that in case of
emergency the President has the right to issue a government
regulation in lieu of law.
Second paragraph of the article says that the government
regulation must get approval from the House of Representatives
(DPR) in the following sitting session.
The third paragraph stipulates that should it get no approval
from the House, the government must revoke the policy.
Imam Addaruqutni, spokesman of the Reform faction, said there
was no reason to declare a state of emergency and to issue
government regulations.
He added that the government regulations should have been
discussed at a sitting session from Oct. 28 through Nov. 29,
2002.