Jokowi Refused to Comment on Amendment of Armed Forces Law
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16 May 2023 00:53 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was tight-lipped when asked about the polemic surrounding the amendment of the Indonesian Armed Forces Law (UU TNI). Some consider the revision a controversial move as there are Articles overseeing the addition of civilian posts for the military to the addition of military functions in the security sector.
“It is still being discussed, I will only comment once that has been completed,” said Jokowi in a doorstop interview at the Angke Mangrove Nature Park in North Jakarta, on May 15.
The proposal to revise the TNI Law resurfaced despite not being included in the prioritized 39 Bills of 2023 the National Legislation Program. The draft proposal from the Armed Forces Legal Development Agency (Babinkum TNI) appeared in April 2023.
However, the TNI Headquarters spokesperson Rear Admiral Julius Widjojono confirmed that the proposal was only limited to internal discussions at Babinkum and that this proposal will only be submitted to TNI Commander Admiral Yudo Margono.
“It has yet been turned into an official pitch to the Defense Minister,” said Julius on May 10.
In the early draft of the TNI law Tempo received, there are a number of crucial aspects, and somewhat troublesome, such as:
- TNI’s Position
The current regulation states that the TNI’s deployment and use of military force, are made under the order of the President. Changes were made to this article that no longer include a sentence explicitly mentioning the president’s orders.
- Active Soldier Deployment
There is a proposal to expand the placement of active soldiers in institutional ministries as stipulated in Article 47. Currently, active soldiers can only be placed in a few fields.
But the proposed changes will expand the posts for active soldiers with new additions introduced such as positions in the Presidential Staff, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, the National Border Management Agency, to the Attorney General's Office.
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