T

he government urged the House of Representatives on Tuesday to avoid spats and political maneuvering ahead of discussions on the draft revision of the Terrorism Law that aims to address the growing terrorist threat in the country.

The government has submitted a revision of the 2003 Terrorism Law in response to fatal attacks near the Sarinah department store, Jakarta, on Jan. 14, that claimed the lives of four assailants and four innocent citizens.

House factions, however, are still torn about whether to proceed with the deliberations with some arguing that the existing law is sufficiently strong.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that the authorities had received intelligence that militants were already planning more attacks.

After holding a closed-door meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Luhut said that the country was in dire need of the law revision to be carried out '€œas soon as possible'€ in order for law enforcement bodies to be able to thwart any imminent attacks.

Luhut lambasted lawmakers who rejected the revision, warning that more people could become victims.

'€œWe have observed that terrorism is still occurring. We need to stay alert and increase our surveillance. We cannot confirm [the time of the possible attacks] but we have to be aware that such threats could come at any time,'€ said Luhut.

Attacks carried out by radical groups have plagued the country since 2002 and taken hundreds of lives.

The Sarinah attack, which was conducted by a group with links to the Islamic State (IS) movement, was the country'€™s worst since 2009 when the capital'€™s Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels were bombed, killing nine and injuring more than 50.

Luhut added that the government had agreed to allocate Rp 1.9 trillion (US$141 milllion) next year for the National Police'€™s Densus 88 counterterrorism unit and would ask the House to include the budget proposal in the revised 2016 state budget.

House Legislation Body (Baleg) member Hendrawan Supratikno said the House would invite several experts to examine the government draft and give feedback.

'€œThere is an urgency to revise the law but how it will be revised will be discussed later,'€ Hendrawan said.

As it currently stands the revised law would give law enforcement personnel the authority to arrest suspected terrorists and detain them for at least 10 months, even if they had yet to carry out any acts of terrorism. The detention period is an increase from six months at present.

 The revision would also allow prosecutions based on data from intelligence agencies.

 The government is also seeking to stipulate clear punishment for people or groups who join or recruit people to join radical groups, or help such groups to prepare terrorist attacks by providing financial aid. It also wants to implement strict and long-term monitoring of ex-terrorism convicts.

Al Araf of human rights watchdog Imparsial said that the revision should include clauses to ensure the rights of terrorist suspects arrested by Densus 88.

'€œWhen the regulation was originally issued, they did not design it with the rights of the suspects in mind. So the revision should include that balance of rights,'€ he said.

Al Araf said that there should be clauses that stipulated compulsory rehabilitation and compensation for those who were wrongly arrested and their families. A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Siane Indriani, criticized the additional budget allocation for Densus 88.