PAN and PKB reject state security bill
JAKARTA (JP): Opposition to the state security bill continued on Thursday, with the National Mandate Party (PAN) and National Awakening Party (PKB) demanding the House of Representatives drop the government-sponsored draft law.
PKB secretary-general Muhaimin Iskandar said his party would reject the bill because the current House did not have the legitimacy to deliberate its terms.
"If the House heeds the people's aspirations and increasing protests, it should stop the deliberation of the bill and leave the job to the next House instead," he said in a seminar on the bill held by the Mass Communications Forum.
Separately, PAN secretary-general Faisal Basri said his party was opposed to the bill because it feared that it would be misused by the government during the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in November.
"Regardless of all significant changes made into the bill, we are worried that the bill will only justify the government in preventing the people from holding demonstrations and protests before and during the MPR General Session," he told the House committee in charge of deliberating the bill on Thursday.
He said student and mass demonstrations were expected to color the Session because of anger over President B.J. Habibie's handling of East Timor and the failure to resolve allegations of corruption against his predecessor, Soeharto.
Habibie will deliver his accountability speech before the MPR in the Session, scheduled to take place between Nov. 1 and Nov. 10.
Another speaker in the seminar, Faisal Razi from the Democratic People's Party (PRD), called on all political parties and mass organizations to reject the bill, which gives authority to the military to use force and take wide-ranging measures in a state of emergency.
"PRD is against the bill because it gives new authority to the military, which has lost the people's confidence because of its tarnished past image," he said.
PAN and PRD also urged the House to annul the restrictive 1959 law concerning a state of emergency, which is now in effect in East Timor.
Agus Muhyidin, the House committee chairman who also spoke in the seminar, said it would depend on the House as a whole whether to halt deliberation of the bill.
The House is expected to endorse the draft law on Sept. 23.
Spokesman for the Indonesian Military (TNI) Maj. Gen. Sudrajat appealed to all quarters opposed to the bill to recognize TNI's "goodwill" in accepting amendments.
"TNI has been open to gradual reform to repair its image. Many substantial changes have been made in the bill and the military agrees with the changes in order to accommodate the people's demands," he said in the seminar.
Syamsuddin, a member of the National Commission of Human Rights and a retired Army general, hailed the changes made by legislators, saying the present version was far more democratic than the original draft
"All sides opposing the bill should reconsider their rejection of the bill," he said, citing the bill guarantee of law supremacy, human rights and democracy in a state of emergency.
Student rallies protesting the bill continued in Surabaya and Yogyakarta on Thursday.
In Surabaya, hundreds of students took to the streets in separate demonstrations. A student group identified as the Arek Surabaya Association protested outside the local council to demand counselors reject the bill.
Another 400 students claiming to represent the Communication Forum of Surabaya Students (Formasa) held a free-speech forum in front of the provincial legislative body on Jl. Indrapura. They said the bill would pave the way for the military to strengthen its grip on power.
In Yogyakarta, more than 200 students representing the Indonesian Front for Youth Struggle (FPPI) marched through the town. The march caused traffic congestion on major streets.
The students also burned tire stashes and carried a coffin covered by a red cloth contained with signatures of students who rejected the bill. (23/nur/rms)