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Analysis: House to pass key draft laws as succession looms
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A file photograph shows empty seats at the House of Representatives. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he House of Representatives plans to accelerate the law-making process of several controversial bills during the lame-duck period before its term ends on Oct. 1. The politicians are intent on revising specifically the Broadcasting Law, the Constitutional Court Law, State Ministries Law and Indonesian Military (TNI) Law that would help them consolidate their power, unfortunately at the expense of democracy, before the Oct. 20 succession of administration.
The new draft broadcasting bill, if passed, will prohibit investigative journalism and transfer the Press Council’s authority to settle journalistic disputes to the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission. In general, the lawmakers in the House’s Commission I, overseeing broadcasting, media and information affairs, are poised to regulate the broadcasting contents after the multiplexing and analog switch-off issues were solved in the Job Creation Law.
Unsurprisingly, the draft revision of the Broadcasting Law has been met with opposition from civil society groups. The Press Council, for example, rejects the planned amendments since the new law could go against the Press Law and justify excessive censorship in over-the-top (OTT) broadcasting platforms.
The potential revision of the Broadcasting Law is also deemed as strengthening the state’s authority to act against broadcasting platforms, business actors, the press and even civilian content creators. In other words, the new law puts freedom of speech at stake. A number of Commission I members involved in the revision have played down the worries, saying the draft is subject to change and its passage will not happen anytime soon. However, the chairman of the Commission I working group on the revision is optimistic the revision could be concluded before the current House ends its five-year tenure.
The House also plans to revise the Constitutional Court Law, even without the involvement of Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, who is also an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician. Deliberation of the draft revision could go ahead with the approval of Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Hadi Tjahtjanto, a close confidant of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as representation of the government.
Not only has the revision sparked protests due to a lack of transparency in its deliberation, but its process was controversial from the beginning. When initiated in 2023, then Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, who is a former Constitutional Court justice, rejected it, saying the draft revision might interfere with justices’ independence.
The House also initiated revision of the State Ministry Law by changing a provision that limits the number of ministries to 34. The new law leaves the number of ministerial seats to the president to decide. House Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad of the Gerindra Party said it will take a short time to conclude the revision, so that the incoming president, Prabowo Subianto, can properly develop his cabinet.
Unlike the two aforementioned laws, the TNI Law will be amended in the House Legislation Body (Baleg). The House leaders chose Baleg over the House Commission I overseeing defense because the amendment only concerns the retirement age of TNI personnel from 58 to 60 for officers with special skills or competence and from 53 to 58 for other soldiers. Other matters in the law will be deliberated by in the Commission I if further revision is needed.
Nevertheless, the possibility for Baleg to widen the revision of the TNI Law remains, as happened in the past when the body revised the Health Law in 2023. Among key changes that civil society groups are concerned about in the new TNI Law is a provision that will give more powers to the military without proper control of the government, which runs counter the civilian supremacy, one of the fruits of reforms in 1998.
What we’ve heard
A high-ranking official said several law revisions were necessary to help the incoming government of president-elect Prabowo. According to this source, the State Ministries Law was being revised to accommodate the number of ministries the Prabowo administration required.
According to the same source, House lawmakers had proposed revising other laws, including the Broadcasting Law and the Constitutional Court Law. Several sources familiar with the legislative process said a top Gerindra Party executive that was part of the House leadership was among the lawmakers behind some of the law revisions.
The sources also said most political parties had agreed to the proposal to revise certain laws. Only the PDI-P remained undecided and was waiting for instruction from central board chairwoman Puan Maharani, who is also House Speaker.
Disclaimer
This content is provided by Tenggara Strategics in collaboration with The Jakarta Post to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on Indonesia’s political and business landscape. Access the latest edition of Tenggara Backgrounder to read the articles listed below:
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- Law revision deemed putting leash on Constitutional Court
- Police Law revision to raise officers’ retirement age
- Legalize but control it: A novel approach to stop rampant vote-buying
Business and Economy
- Govt relaxes local content requirements for renewable energy
- Govt wants Tesla, SpaceX, but Elon Musk brings Starlink to Indonesia
- Trade Ministry revises regulations to ease container backlog
- High medical inflation drives surge in healthcare premiums
