Input from the public vital for revision of Police bill
Input from the public vital for revision of Police bill
Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The public must become more active in providing feedback on
the controversial National Police bill, Hendardi, a human rights
campaigner from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association (PBHI), said.
"There must be mutual communication between the legislators
and the public. The public also has to press legislators to
revise the disputed articles in the bill," Hendardi told The
Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The House of Representatives (DPR) agreed on Wednesday to
delay enactment of the bill, which has drawn a hostile response
from the public and would provide police with extraordinary
powers, according to some.
The postponement was announced in a bid to publicize the bill
and to obtain input from the public.
The House has assigned a special committee to take charge of
promoting the bill among the public. Revisions to the bill must
be completed within 19 working days.
"The public can press the legislators not to enact the bill
before their inputs are accommodated in the revision," Hendardi
said.
Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist at the University of
Indonesia, said that the police themselves should also be more
active in publicizing the bill so as to encourage more input from
the public.
Adrianus said on Thursday that it was the police themselves
who were the most competent in promoting the bill in a way that
would achieve effective results.
"The police have to promote the bill and seek inputs from the
public by meeting them in person," Adrianus told The Jakarta
Post.
The police had to acquaint themselves with the articles to be
discussed with the public, before conducting their
familiarization activities, he said, adding that they should also
be selective when considering the inputs.
Commenting on the police's position, which was formulated
under the coordination of the President, Adrianus said there were
good articles in the bill which needed to be retained.
Bambang Widjojanto, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Foundation (YLBHI), welcomed the postponement, but said he did
not agree with the use of the word "familiarization" as it
negated efforts to revise the bill.
"The use of the word familiarization implies the public
already understands it, thereby nullifying the demand for the
revision itself," Bambang said.
"I have the impression that the familiarization process merely
constitutes a political gimmick to show that the public finally
understands and agrees before it is finally enacted," he said.
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said that the bill's enactment
had been postponed until the next assembly session, scheduled to
take place before the Lebaran festivities in December.
Bambang suspects the familiarization program is the House's
way of demonstrating that they have "heard and listened" to the
public before enacting the disputed bill into law.
Bambang said the provisions in the bill that needed revision
included, among others, those relating to police duties, the
pensionable age for police officers and organizational structure,
in keeping with the implementation of regional autonomy.