TNI concedes insufficient promotion of security bill

SURABAYA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) and Ministry of Defense and Security have said they will leave a decision whether to approve the controversial state security bill to the House of Representatives.

Speaking after addressing a seminar on the new nationalism here on Wednesday, spokesman for the ministry/TNI Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said the government and TNI had not pressed the House to approve the bill as quickly as possible.

"Perhaps people need more time to understand the appropriate nature of the bill. I acknowledge that we have not adequately promoted the bill to the whole public," Sudrajat said.

"Therefore, it's all up to the wisdom of the House. The bill itself has seen many changes, compared to the original draft."

The House is expected on Thursday to approve the bill, which provides TNI with wide-ranging powers, including the right to temporarily take over the duties of a civilian government in a state of emergency.

Sudrajat said he welcomed the submissions made over the bill, but deplored the increasing number of rallies and protests against the bill, saying such actions had been blown out of proportion.

"Responses to the bill should be conducted in an intellectual manner, not through street rallies," he said.

He said that from his own observations many protesters were not familiar with the bill's contents.

Separately in Yogyakarta, political observer Cornelius Lay of Gadjah Mada University said the public had the right to disobey the bill, even if it was approved by the House.

"People can exercise civil disobedience in response to the law because opposition to the bill by various elements in the society has been left unheeded by the government and even the House," Cornelius said.

He emphasized, however, that resistance to the bill should not lead to violent confrontations.

He said people had exercised their right to disobey a law when the House approved the Traffic Law in 1991. Following nationwide protests, the government delayed enforcement of the law for one year.

Press threat

In Jakarta, chairman of the Legal Aid Institute Foundation Bambang Widjojanto also warned of massive public disobedience to the state security law, not only from students, but also from business executives.

Speaking at a seminar, Bambang also said the press faced serious threats if the bill was passed by the House.

He said that although there were no articles in the bill which specifically targeted the press, the media's independence could be severely curtailed because of the authority given to the military to take over all mail and telecommunications facilities.

"The bill's article will allow security authorities to control the press," Bambang said.

At another seminar held by the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, political expert Syamsuddin Haris suggested that the press boycott the House's approval of the bill.

"There's nothing we can do now but to pray that the House delays approving the bill, or returns it to the government," he said.

He said the bill would justify the misuse of sociopolitical roles long-held by the military.

But media observer Atmakusumah Astraatmadja disputed the press boycott idea, saying such a move would limit dissemination of vital public information.

The director of the Soetomo Press Institute said it would be better for the public to consider the bill positively, rather than to react too strongly.

"We have to know whether we really need the bill or whether it is common in other countries to enact such a state security law," Atmakusumah said.

He said the bill did not stipulate any press ban, although he acknowledged that it could pose obstacles to the media.

Another speaker at the seminar, Johnson Panjaitan from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, acknowledged that while many countries had adopted a state security law, due to TNI's role in sociopolitical affairs, the case for Indonesia was a different story.

"Basically, it's normal for a country to adopt the law, for example (as in) Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. People in these countries can accept the law only because their military forces are not involved in political practices," he said. (05/44/emf/nur)