ITE Law Hampers Democracy Climate: Legal Expert

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A legal expert from Al-Azhar University, Suparji Ahmad, argued that the existence of the Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE Law) hampers the democratic climate in Indonesia.

“It obviously disturbs the democratic climate in Indonesia because it vanishes people's critical power. There are no checks and balances as an opposition party is not well developed,” said Suparji in a webinar held by the Save Indonesia Coalition (KAMI) on Thursday, November 12, 2020.

He reiterated that this was attributable to the legislative error, given that the law should be only for electronic transactions. Yet the policy was used as a political tool.

Suparji mentioned that the law also contained a number of 'vague' articles, such as Article 27, 28, and 29 which have multiple meanings. The articles were considered to not provide legal certainty and clear formulas. Thus, it was not surprising that the policy is the most tested law in the Constitutional Court.

Additionally, law enforcers were not independent and tended to take a political side. “Professional integrity drives the ITE Law enforcement to harm democracy,” he said.

Suparji opined that challenging the law to the Constitutional Court would not solve the problem. The legislative review was also deemed to not provide significant improvements.

Therefore, Suparji suggested advocates in defending cases involving the ITE Law could be more professional so that it is on the right track in the corridor of democratic law.

Read: Palace Buzzers Immune to ITE Law, Observer Reveals

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