TNI Law Revision Working Committee Meeting in Luxury Hotel Highlighted by KontraS: Paradox Amid Difficult Economy

JAKARTA - The decision of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) to hold a working committee meeting (Panja) for the revision of Law Number 34 of 2004 concerning the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) or the TNI Law in a luxury hotel has been highlighted. KontraS considers this condition as a paradox in the midst of difficult economic conditions.

Meanwhile, Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government held a working committee meeting for the Revision of the TNI Law at the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta. This activity was carried out for two days on March 14-15.

"We see this as a paradox. In the midst of the country's situation, the country's difficult economic situation, there have been many waves of layoffs, yesterday Mrs. Sri Mulyani just said that there was a deficit of approximately IDR 3 trillion in the State Budget (APBN), which indicates that there is a crisis situation," said KontraS Coordinator, Dimas Bagus Arya Saputra to reporters quoted on Saturday, March 15.

Dimas also highlighted the choice of location. He suspects that the Fairmont Hotel was chosen so that the public would not easily reach it so that the discussion of the revision of the law would not become noisy.

"In the end, the public ultimately cannot access any meetings, anything that is done, because it is closed. In fact, the public also has the right to know what is being discussed," he said.

"So, in our opinion, this is something that is very, very paradoxical. In the midst of a very difficult economic situation, but then there is waste in quotation marks carried out by members of the DPR to conduct discussions, with hidden motivations and also with secret efforts," continued Dimas.

The news of the meeting between Commission I of the DPR RI and the government to discuss the revision of the TNI Law was confirmed by Member of Commission I of the DPR RI from the PDIP Party Faction, TB Hasanuddin. Reported from era.id, the meeting on Friday, March 14 was limited to discussing the problem inventory list (DIM).

"Just discussing DIM," he said when confirmed, Friday, March 14.

For information, the revision of the TNI Law has invited polemics because it is feared that it will revive the dual function of the ABRI. There are a number of proposed changes in the DIM of the Revised TNI Law from the government, including expanding the placement of active TNI soldiers in 15 ministries and institutions

Although it has been expanded, the government has proposed that TNI soldiers can occupy civilian positions outside the 15 ministries and institutions. However, with the condition that they must retire early.

Then, this revision aims to determine the addition of the military service age to 58 years for non-commissioned officers and privates. While the service period for officers can reach the age of 60 years.

In addition, there is a possibility that the service period will be extended to 65 years for soldiers who hold functional positions. Meanwhile, for 4-star high-ranking officers, their retirement age is according to the president's discretion.