DPR Suspends TNI and Polri Bill Discussion

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Chair of the Legislative Body of the House of Representatives (DPR) of Indonesia, Wihadi Wiyanto, said the DPR Legislative Body will suspend the discussion of the Indonesian Military or TNI Bill and the National Police or Polri Bill.

"The discussion of these Bills will be resumed in the next DPR period,” he said on Monday, August 26, 2024. Thus, DPR ensured there would be no further discussion on the TNI and Polri Bills for the remainder of the 2019-2024 DPR period. 

"We have decided to cancel it for the time being," he said, without explaining DPR’s reasoning for the suspension. Wihadi said the urgency of discussing the TNI and Polri Bills will be reviewed in the next DPR period. 

Previously, the DPR Legislative Body stated that it would continue the discussion of the TNI and Polri Bills. President Joko Widodo has sent a Presidential Letter to DPR which approved the Bill as DPR initiatives.

TNI-Polri Bill's discussion plan was met with strong rejection by Indonesian citizens and human rights activists. Most recently, the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform visited the National Commission on Human Rights or Komnas HAM office on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, to express its rejection of the Bill.

A representative of the Civil Society Coalition, Arif Maulana, said the revision of the two laws could potentially increase the cases of human rights violations. "Komnas HAM must immediately take a firm stance to state its rejection of this bill," he said.

Arif said the revision of TNI-Polri laws could potentially strengthen the authorities of both the military and police which will affect the human rights of Indonesian citizens. Polri Law revision includes matters of the right to privacy, the right to information, and freedom of the press. "Including the private sector such as authority in intelligence and wiretapping," he said.

TNI Law’s revision is no less worrying, Arif said. The military could potentially interfere with civilian matters, including business and even politics. 

Arif stated that the TNI-Polri Bill would be dangerous for democracy and would set Indonesia back to the New Order regime. "I believe the TNI-Polri Bill’s discussion must be postponed, must be halted. We hope the revision will be discussed democratically,” he said. 

NOVALI PANJI NUGRAHA

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