9 hours ago
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March 17, 2025 | 10:10 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The coalition of lecturers who are members of several civil society organizations claim not to be surprised that the revision of the TNI Law, currently being discussed by the DPR and the Indonesian government, will soon be passed. The revision of this law has garnered public criticism.
Herdiansyah Hamzah, a lecturer from Mulawarman University in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and a member of the Constitutional and Administrative Law Society (CALS), stated that aside from being informally discussed, the TNI Bill is not actually included in the national legislative priority program for 2025.
"The TNI Bill is also not included in the priority prolegnas, but its discussion continues to be pursued," said Herdiansyah when contacted on Monday, March 17, 2025.
According to him, the discussion of the TNI Bill is heavily laden with political interests. This can be seen in how the DPR tends to accommodate proposed articles that seek to revive the dual function of the TNI.
Herdiansyah continued that the DPR, as a representation of the public, instead of showing its impartiality, has acted to the contrary. For example, enthusiastically conducting discussions on the TNI Bill at a five-star hotel over the weekend.
"If they truly want to be objective and in accordance with the interests of the public, what should be encouraged are proposals for military justice, not the extension of retirement age or the expansion of positions," he said.
For several weeks now, the DPR and the government have been vigorously discussing the TNI Law. The clauses proposed by the government in the bill's list of inventory issues have sparked criticism and rejection.
These clauses include the expansion of civilian position posts that can be held by active-duty soldiers, an increase in the retirement age of soldiers, and expanded authority. This is seen as an attempt to regress democracy by reviving the dual function of the TNI.
Recent discussions on the TNI Bill were conducted behind closed doors at the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta. As a result, this activity received harsh criticism from civil society groups. However, instead of halting, the DPR will continue the discussion on the TNI Bill today in the Senayan Parliamentary Complex.
A legislator in the DPR stated that the TNI Bill is likely to be brought to the nearest plenary session of the DPR for approval as a law on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Deputy Speaker of the DPR Sufmi Dasco Ahmad and Chairman of the Working Committee for the TNI Bill Utut Adianto have not responded to Tempo's confirmation message regarding the plan to pass the TNI Bill into law at the upcoming plenary session.
The message sent via the WhatsApp messaging application only shows two gray check marks, indicating that it has been sent but not read.
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