Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy – A controversial bill that calls for a mandatory draft has polarized opinion at the House of Representatives.

Tubagus Hasanuddin, a deputy chairman of House Commission I, which oversees foreign and defense affairs, said on Sunday that the Reserve Components Bill should be rejected on several points.

The main argument against it, he said, was that with a standing military of 420,000 personnel and ongoing programs to upgrade weapons systems and improve soldiers' welfare, there was no foreseeable military threat to the country in the next 10 or 15 years that would justify a draft.

Hasanuddin, a former two-star Army general, also said that certain provisions in the bill, proposed by the Defense Ministry, came off as discriminative, including articles stipulating that the draft would only be applicable to civil servants, laborers and salaried workers.

"What about entertainers and businesspeople? Why should they be exempted from the draft?" he said.

He noted that the bill also prescribed a minimum prison sentence of one year for refusal to enlist. Hasanuddin also took issue with articles allowing the state to commandeer the assets and resources of state-owned and private companies if deemed necessary for defense purposes.

"This is nothing short of state robbery," said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, adding that all these flaws rendered the bill unfit for deliberation as it stood.

However, Susaningtyas Kertopati, a House Commission I member from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), said it was important to deliberate the bill, arguing that a draft would help boost nationalism and patriotism among the people.

She also said that threats to Indonesia did not necessarily have to come from military aggression, but could also manifest themselves in the form of terrorism, people smuggling, the international drug trade or other transnational crimes or issues directly impacting on the country's sovereignty and domestic security.

"Indonesia's strategic geographical position makes it a country that is prone to a multitude of threats. That's why we need this legislation on reserve components for the armed forces," Susaningtyas said.

Neta S. Pane, the head of Indonesia Police Watch, a nongovernmental monitoring group, argued that a military draft should only be instated if absolutely necessary.

He said there were only two reasons for introducing a draft, the first being the presence of an outside threat. But he pointed out that Indonesia's security situation at present and for the foreseeable future remained stable, and there were no signs of any threats, whether from outside the country or inside.

Neta said the second reason that would justify a draft was if youth unemployment had reached critical levels and was fueling crime. However, he said this was not the case at the moment either, thereby obviating any justification the government could have for a mandatory draft.