Opposition to police legislation intensifies

Opposition to police legislation intensifies

Tiarma Siboro and Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas)
Ermaya Suradinata expressed concern here on Monday that the
National Police had yet to be independent despite their
separation from the Indonesian Military (TNI).

"After conducting research on the police, I have found out
that Indonesia is the only country that places its National
Police directly under the president," Ermaya told reporters on
the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a Lemhannas training
course.

"Nearly 90 percent of all countries have placed their National
Police under the Ministry of Home Affairs. This does not include
the United States, which places its police under the Ministry of
Justice," he said.

"The situation is worsened by the requirement that the
president must secure approval from the House of Representatives
to elect the chief of police," Ermaya said, adding that the
intervention of the president and the House would affect the
independence of the police, despite calls that it should remain
neutral from any political interests.

Ermaya criticized the People's Consultative Assembly Decree
No. VI/MPR/2001, which stipulates that the National Police be
headed by a chief who is appointed and dismissed by the
president, with the consent of the House.

Such a decree has been adopted in a bill on the police,
scheduled to be enacted on Tuesday.

According to Ermaya, the election of the chief of police must
be left to the institution itself as it held responsibility to
manage its own personnel.

Twenty three legislators demanded on Monday that the House
speaker delay the enactment of the police bill.

Hartono Mardjono, one of the 23 legislators, argued that as
the bill was prone to police manipulation, so as to substitute
TNI's political role, its enactment should be postponed.

The bill needed reviewing as it was only advantageous to the
police, he said.

"I have the impression that the police would attempt to take
over the political role abandoned by the TNI. This is not right,
both the TNI and police should keep away from politics," Hartono
told The Jakarta Post.

He said that there were loopholes in the bill that needed to
be reviewed and restored as articles in the bill had no clear-cut
explanation.

Citing Articles 4 and 14 in Section C of the bill, Hartono
said that police could take any measure to quell action that
threatened their existence.

"This contradicts the function of the police to serve and
protect the public," Hartono said.