Idea to establish civilian militia

Idea to establish civilian militia

From Pelita

From their reactions and comments, the majority of the
community members show that they are harboring suspicions about
the idea of establishing a civilian militia.

The Coordinating Minister of Political Affairs and Security
has stated that the militia will be established because its
establishment is needed and conforms with law.

On the other hand, the Minister of Justice stated that the
establishment of the militia would need a strong legal foundation
and that, therefore, a law for its establishment would have to be
issued.

Irrespective of the pros and cons regarding this matter, we
are of the opinion that it is indeed necessary to increase the
number of Indonesian policemen as the present number is no longer
sufficient to deal with Indonesia's extensive territory and the
ever greater diversity of activities carried out by the
community.

It is for this reason that we greatly support efforts to
increase the number of policemen, but not in the form of the
militia.

The consequence of expanding the police force is that the
police force will need a bigger budget, which is unavoidable to
ensure better handling of various social and state activities.
The most important thing in this respect, however, is that
recruitment must be conducted through highly selective methods.

The increase in the police budget because of the expansion of
the force would be meaningless compared with the forced
establishment of the militia, which is certain to bring about
adverse impacts as a result of the pros and cons of this matter.
Worse still, dangerous conflicts may take place and harm national
unity, integrity and development as a result of mutual suspicions
between the community and the government.

Therefore we propose the following to the President: (1)
Shelve the idea of establishing the militia. (2) Recruit some
75,000 new members of the police force in stages to suit the need
and the budget (this number will not include new recruits to
replace retired policemen.)

A.P. BATUBARA

General Chairman

Central Executive Board

Gema 17 Agustus 1945

Jakarta