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House defies call to drop deliberation of controversial TNI bill
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Army personnel march in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Oct. 5, 2024, during an event marking the 79th anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI). (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
T
he House of Representatives has moved one step closer to passing legislation that will expand the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) role in civilian governance despite growing opposition from pro-democracy and human rights groups who fear the new law will erode decades of democratic progress.
The legislature, largely controlled by parties supporting President Prabowo Subianto, a former Army general with ties to the country’s past authoritarian regime, has since the weekend fast-tracked discussions on the planned revisions to the TNI Law that will broaden the military’s role beyond defense.
In a meeting of House Commission I overseeing defense on Tuesday, all eight political parties represented in the legislature threw their support behind the bill, which will allow active military personnel to take on more civilian roles without having to retire or resign from the service.
“We invited all stakeholders in the discussion of the bill. [...] All political parties have laid out their agreement [to endorse the revision],” Commission I chairman Utut Adianto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said when concluding the session.
Read also: Lawmakers hold secret, rushed deliberations of TNI bill
Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas, who represented Prabowo’s administration at Tuesday’s meeting, said the government hoped that “the revision of the TNI Law could be passed into law in the coming House plenary session.”
No official date for when the bill will be passed has been announced, but Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who hails from Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, has opened the possibility of the House doing so in the nearest plenary session, which is scheduled for Thursday.
