House reviews plan to enact new police law
House reviews plan to enact new police law
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Bowing to mounting public pressure, the House of
Representatives (DPR) agreed on Tuesday to reconsider its plan to
pass the controversial police bill into law on Wednesday.
House leaders are scheduled to hold a consultation meeting
with the chairmen of party factions on Wednesday morning to
decide whether or not they will postpone the endorsement of the
bill on the Indonesian police, which has drawn strong criticism
from the public.
Responding to a proposal from the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), House leaders also agreed on
Tuesday evening to move the planned plenary session scheduled to
enact the bill into law from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., after the
consultation meeting.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction
secretary in the House, Heri Akhmadi, told The Jakarta Post on
Tuesday that several factions seemed to understand the necessity
of postponing the bill's endorsement as had been demanded by the
PDI-P.
"We all know that sometimes a good law will not automatically
be good for the public if we fail to socialize the draft before
endorsing it," Heri said.
Controversy over the police bill arose as the PDI Perjuangan
faction voiced their objections to a provision of the bill
allowing for an extension of the retirement age for the police
chief, which many observers considered to be a move designed to
allow police chief General Surojo Bimantoro to stay in command.
Heri said the PDI-P had sent a formal letter to House leaders
on Tuesday, asking them to postpone the endorsement of the
controversial bill.
In the letter signed by faction chairman Arifin Panigoro and
secretary Heri Akhmadi, the PDI Perjuangan identified three
reasons why the placing of the bill on the statute books should
be postponed.
Firstly, there were still objections from the public in
connection with the bill. Secondly, more time was needed to
socialize the bill to the public before it was approved by the
House. And thirdly, the House needed time to comprehensively
identify the public's wishes.
Earlier, several members of the PDI-P faction had threatened
to walk out of the plenary session should the House insist on
passing the bill.
Aisyah Amini from the United Development Party (PPP)
criticized on Tuesday the move by the PDI-P, saying that the
party had the most representatives on the House special committee
discussing the bill.
"How can they make such a demand now when they were actively
involved in discussing the bill. As the biggest party, they have
the largest number of representatives on the special committee,"
Aisyah told the press at the legislative building on Tuesday.
National Police chief General Surojo Bimantoro denied on
Tuesday that the extension of the retirement age from 48 to 55,
and then to 58 as provided for in the bill, was designed to keep
him in his post.
"What we want from this extension of the retirement age is
that gradually it will help us reach the ideal ratio between the
number of police officers and the people we serve," Bimantoro
told reporters.
Nationwide there were some 270,000 police personnel and
annually some 6,000 personnel retired, while the number of new
recruits amounted to less than half the number of retiring police
officers.
"Prosecutors and judges retire at the age of 60. They are all
law enforcers like us," he said after opening a seminar on police
education and training in Jakarta.
"So it's not true that the bill is designed to accommodate me.
Who am I?," he asked.
Bimantoro is scheduled to retire in early November and he
reportedly submitted his resignation letter to the state
secretary on Sept. 17.