Surabaya – Hundreds of Indonesian students protested in the country's second largest city on Thursday against a controversial draft security bill which they say would increase the power of the military.

Some 600 demonstrators gathered in front of two local government offices in the commercial city of Surabaya, 700 km east of Jakarta.

"For 32 years the military have been a political power in the new order regime and now they want to retain their power," said a student identifying himself only as Ucok.

"The enhancement of this law has to stopped, otherwise we will be the ones rejecting it," he said. Protesters carried banners calling for a cut in the military's pervasive presence in Indonesia. "Military out of the economy, society and politics," said one sign.

The bill allows the president to declare a state of emergency in troublespots and delegate authority to the military which is given enhanced power to handle threats to state security, including the power to take over all mail and electronic means of communication.

Opponents of the bill have said that they are concerned that it would provide a legal framework for the Indonesian military to clamp down on the press and stifle reform.

Some see the bill as an attempt by the military to preserve their influence at a time when the once-untouchable institution is coming under increasing criticism.

The draft bill has caused an uproar among many pacifists and intellectuals and has provoked a series of protests over the last month.