Lawmakers differ over changes to laws on security, defense

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta

The government's move to amend legislation on security and defense has split legislators, with a Golkar Party lawmaker leading the opposition to attempts to prevent House members from having a say in the appointment of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief.

Happy Bone Zulkarnaen, a member of House of Representative's Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs, said the role of lawmakers in appointing the TNI chief was crucial to the system of checks and balances.

He expressed concern that if the role of the House was eliminated, the president would come to dominate the country's armed forces as during the authoritarian Soeharto regime.

Happy was responding to drafts of revised legislation on security and defense, as reported in this paper on Thursday, which among other things would allow the president to appoint and dismiss the TNI chief without approval from the House.

A special team at the Ministry of Defense has completed the first drafts of the revised legislation, which also include proposed changes to the law on the National Police.

Effendi Choirie, a legislator from the National Awakening Party (PKB), supports the revised legislation and expects President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to implement the changes before the end of his term in 2009.

"Personally, I support the ministry's ideas. I do not think the House will object to not interfering in the president's rights, but only on one clear condition: that the TNI is placed under the Ministry of Defense," Effendi told The Jakarta Post.

Happy agreed that the TNI must be placed under the Ministry of Defense, and the National Police under the Ministry of Home Affairs, but underlined that the "time frame for re-positioning the police must be more flexible" to allow the ministry complete the necessary internal preparations.

Under the proposed changes to Law No. 3/2002 on defense and Law No. 32/2004 on the military, the Indonesian Military will be put under the Ministry of Defense. Currently, the military is under the direct supervision of the president.

President Susilo, however, has said that any moves to place the TNI under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense should be implemented gradually.