National Conscience Movement Urges Government-DPR to Cancel Revision of TNI Law

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The call for the government and the House of Representatives to halt the revision of the TNI Law continues to gain momentum. This time, the request was conveyed by figures united under the Gerakan Nurani Bangsa movement. They believe that the revision of the TNI Law lacks urgency for immediate ratification and instead further distances the TNI from professionalism.

"What is behind the urgency to rush this matter?" said Alissa Wahid, the eldest daughter of the 4th President of the Republic of Indonesia, KH Abdurrahman Wahid, and a member of the Gerakan Nurani Bangsa, during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (18/3/2025). "For us, the request is for the law revision to be canceled, not merely postponed in the plenary session. We are asking for it to be canceled because there is no urgency, and it actually moves further away from professionalism."

In addition to Alissa Wahid, other figures in the movement who were present at the press conference included former Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Franz Magnis Suseno, Karlina Supelli, A. Setyo Wibowo, Mgr. Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo, and Reverend Darwin Darmawan.

Furthermore, the government and the House of Representatives are reminded not to force the approval of the revision of the TNI Law before Eid. Ideally, the revision of the law should first be discussed over an extended period to allow for deliberation of ideas and meaningful public participation.

"Public trust is determined by several factors, the first being the integrity of policymakers, the intentions behind it, then we talk about competence and the existing track record. The issue is, we know that we actually have a history of policy-making that is rushed and carried out covertly from civil society," he explained.

The formulation of policies carried out hastily and in secrecy includes the Job Creation Law, the Mineral and Coal Law (Minerba), and others. These laws were discussed from one hotel to another, hidden from the public, and subsequently resulted in numerous issues.

In addition to being discussed secretly in hotels, the law was also carried out without providing space for civil society to be involved in the discussion. Civil society groups even found it difficult to access the draft revision of the TNI Law. The rushed discussion also did not provide space for the general public to provide a response.

Meanwhile, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin reminded that the quality of the nation's democracy must be maintained and guarded. One of them is by maintaining civil supremacy as the main pillar of democracy.

Seeing the background and conditions of the revision of the TNI Law, the National Conscience Movement also conveyed three main messages to the law makers.

The three main messages are that the placement of active TNI members into civilian institutions will actually weaken the professionalism of the TNI. The TNI will be unfocused on its main function and main task as a state apparatus in the field of defense, according to the mandate of the constitution.

Second, unlike the civilian tradition that is accustomed to sharing perspectives and arguing objectively to reach agreement when facing differences in managing life together, the military is educated to strictly obey hierarchical commands and has the authority to carry out armed violence. "The positive characteristics of the military organization, in civilian institutions, will actually kill democracy," said Lukman.

This not only eliminates public participation, but also has the potential to violate human rights in organizing communal life.

Third, the TNI as a state apparatus and the DPR as a representative institution of the people must be able to maintain the trust of the people as holders of sovereignty in this country. Denial of the will of reform in the form of enforcing civil supremacy will cause both institutions to be uprooted from the people.

Therefore, the government and the DPR must not draft laws that deviate from the mandate of the 1945 Constitution and MPR Decree Number VI/MPR/2000 concerning the Separation of the TNI and Polri Number VII/MPR/2000 concerning the Role of the TNI and the Role of the Polri.