T

he House of Representatives has established a national intelligence oversight team that will monitor the work of state intelligence officials and their clandestine operations.

'€œThe formation of this team is a follow-up to Law No. 17/2011 on intelligence and the implementation of House Regulation No. 2/2014 on the national intelligence oversight team,'€ House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said during a plenary session on Tuesday.

Hanafi Rais, a National Mandate Party (PAN) politician and member of the oversight body, said that the team would only get to work if there was any indication that intelligence officials had broken the law. For example, by performing illegal wiretapping or unwarranted arrests, he said.

Hanafi said the unit could hold closed-door meetings and had been granted the power to summon whomever they wanted, from state intelligence officials and people deemed relevant to ongoing investigations to intelligence experts.

'€œBut all state secrets will be kept confidential and our meetings will remain closed-door so as to ensure national security,'€ he said.

He added that the formation of the oversight body had nothing to do with the recent act of terrorism that took place in downtown Jakarta.

'€œIt'€™s been long overdue. The [Intelligence Law] stipulates the formation of an external supervision team, comprising members of the House commission tasked with intelligence matters,'€ Hanafi said. '€œIt'€™s high time the team was put together.'€

The unit comprises of 14 lawmakers from House Commission I overseeing intelligence, who were sworn in during the plenary meeting under an oath of secrecy, as they will be privy to state secrets and covert intelligence operations while carrying out their duties.

The team includes Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Gerindra secretary-general Ahmad Muzani, former high-ranking Army officer and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician TB Hasanuddin and United Development Party (PPP) secretary-general Dimyati Natakusumah.

The oath-taking and inauguration ceremony caught several members of the assembly by surprise, while others voiced concern that such processions were out of place in the plenary meeting.

Azis Syamsudin of the Golkar Party said that such a task-specific oversight team could instead have been inaugurated in a commission-level forum.

'€œOtherwise, if by extension we apply the prevailing jurisprudence at the House, the inauguration of all internal House bodies and their chairmanships must be conducted at the plenary level,'€ protested Azis.

PKS politician Nasir Djamil concurred with his House Commission III colleague, saying there was no prior notice regarding the inauguration ceremony. '€œI'€™m in my third period at the House and I was flummoxed by the procession earlier. I support what Azis said, that we should take care not to blur the lines [of convention].'€

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) questioned the impunity that may arise from having a supervision team consisting of politicians.

Puri Kencana Putri, KontraS'€™ deputy coordinator for strategy and mobilization, took issue with the sudden establishment of the oversight body, which was done without any public awareness campaign.

'€œNational intelligence supervisors need to have rules of procedure. Can the public file complaints with them? It should not be simply because someone is a politician sitting in House Commission I that he or she is so easily included on this committee,'€ she said.