Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono on Tuesday defended President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from an accusation that he was trying to return the country to authoritarianism by pushing for the endorsement of the state secrecy bill.

The Press Council was among several nongovernmental organizations that have called on Yudhoyono to delay the scheduled passage of the bill, saying it would hamper democracy and undermine freedom, transparency and accountability.

Juwono said Yudhoyono had supported military reforms when he was assistant for territorial affairs to the Army chief in 1997 and was at the forefront of efforts to get the military to respect democracy, accountability and human rights.

"So it is not fair that some NGOs and the Press Council are accusing the president of trying to bring back the New Order regime," he said, referring to former President Suharto's iron-fisted rule.

Juwono said the president had asked him to ensure that the bill would achieve balance between the principles of liberty and security.

Juwono said the bill's critics were just trying to boost their public images by dragging the president into the debate over the legislation. "When they meet us directly, they always say that there is no problem, but when they talk to the media, they are full of harsh criticisms," he said.

Juwono said that his ministry was not involved in rushing the bill, saying "It is the lawmakers who are forcing us to finish the bill in September."

Lawmakers, however, said the opposite was happening. Legislator Andreas Pareira, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), objected to Juwono's assertions, claiming the government was now "washing its hands" of the issue.

"The government is just now realizing that this sensitive bill shouldn't be discussed in such a rush?" he said.

The Golkar Party's Theo Sambuaga said the government was still involved in the discussions over the bill. "If the government wants to revoke the draft, what can we do? The government has the right to review it," he said.

National Awakening Party (PKB) lawmaker Effendy Choirie went as far as to say that the government was actually pushing to have the bill passed, with a plenary meeting scheduled on Thursday to decide whether to continue pursuing it.