M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives once again engaged in heated debate Tuesday over whether to deliberate a bill on state secrecy.
A number of lawmakers, already frustrated by what they considered the government's procrastination in deliberating a House-sponsored freedom of information bill, rejected the idea of discussing the government's bill.
"We demand that the discussions on the freedom of information bill be completed first," lawmaker Andreas Pareira of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said. That bill is now under deliberation by the House.
He added that stipulations concerning state secrecy issues could be incorporated into the freedom of information bill. "That way, we don't need a new law on state secrecy," Andreas said in a hearing with Communications and Information Minister Sofyan Djalil.
Andreas said he suspected there had been efforts to kill off the discussions on the freedom of information bill to make way for the state secrecy bill. Andreas and other members of House Commission I on defense and foreign affairs were dismayed by what they considered the government's effort to stall the freedom of information bill.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told a hearing with Commission I on Monday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had decided to appoint Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin as the government's representative in the deliberation of the state secrecy bill.
Fellow lawmaker Dedy Djamaluddin Malik of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said the freedom of information bill, once put into effect, should serve as an umbrella regulation. "The freedom of information bill already carries provisions about what can be considered a state secret," Dedy told reporters. Even if the state secrecy bill is eventually discussed, it should be done after the freedom of information bill is passed into law, Dedy said.
Provisions in the freedom of information bill guarantee public access to government information. The state secrecy bill aims to keep such materials out of public reach. The state secrecy bill, for instance, defines confidential information as anything that could jeopardize the state's sovereignty or safety if it fell into the wrong hands.
That includes information on defense, international relations, law enforcement, the national economy, the state coding system, intelligence and vital assets.
The government has said it wants the bills to proceed in tandem. "It would be better if we can deliberate them simultaneously so that once they are endorsed, both can be implemented concurrently," Sofyan told reporters after the Tuesday hearing.
Sofyan downplayed criticism that the government had dragged its feet in discussing the freedom of information bill. "I am also upset by the slow pace of this bill's deliberation. But I am sure that the discussion will wrap up in time," he said.