House factions reject TNI power to take preemptive action
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government demanded on Monday that the Indonesian Military be granted the power to take preemptive measures against groups suspected of threatening national unity before they were capable of launching an armed rebellion.
Major factions in the House of Representatives, however, rejected the proposal, saying the power could be abused as had happened in the past.
"The TNI must not be given the authority to take preemptive actions. They should clamp down on visible armed groups that pose a real threat to national unity," spokesman for the largest faction the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Pataniari Siahaan told a plenary meeting here to deliberate the TNI bill.
Interim coordinating minister for political and security affairs Hari Sabarno, Ministry of Defense secretary-general Rear Marshal Suprihadi and TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto represented the government during the meeting.
The Islam-based United Development Party (PPP) faction, through spokesperson Aisyah Aminy, asserted that the TNI should focus on its duty as a defense force to deal with armed rebellion.
The Reform faction spokesman Imam Addaruqutni shared the argument of PDI-P and the PPP factions, saying the government proposal contained loopholes that could justify the military's involvement in nondefense tasks.
According to the bill, TNI's main tasks include deterring and clamping down on any threats to national unity and restoring security and order,
The bill does not specify the threats, prompting questions from the House factions. They urged the government to specifically refer to armed movements.
The PDI-P faction also demanded that the military's mandate to restore security and order be dropped, saying it would overlap with the function of the National Police.
According to Pataniari, the TNI's role in security restoration would reinstate the now defunct Security and Order Restoration Command (Kopkamtib), which was used by the New Order to oppress government critics and opposition groups.
The powerful command was dissolved by its founder president Soeharto in 1992 but was replaced by the Agency for the Coordination of Support for the Development of National Stability (Bakorstranas) that practically performed the same function. Bakorstranas was dissolved in 1998.
In line with the reform movement, the highest law making body, the People's Consultative Assembly, decided in 2000 to separate the National Police from the TNI and order the former to deal with security, and the latter defense.
Defending the government's argument, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Hari Sabarno said the authority to take preemptive measures was needed before separatist groups obtained firearms and ammunition.
The minister agreed, however, that the bill clearly stipulate the duties of the TNI.
"The bill must clearly outline whether the TNI will be given the authority to counter (separatist) movements before they emerge as armed groups," Hari said.
In order to prevent an overlapping of duties among the TNI, the National Police and the intelligence bodies, Hari suggested that lawmakers propose bills on intelligence and national security.
The two bills, along with the TNI bill, will be needed to formulate the division of labor among the TNI, the National Police and the intelligence agencies, he said.
As both the government and lawmakers failed to settle the debate, they agreed to bring the issue of the TNI's duties to a closed-door forum.