Maretha Uli, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court dismissed on Thursday five petitions that sought to repeal the controversial law revision on the Indonesian Military (TNI), which expands the role of the armed forces in the civilian government, as the petitioners lacked the legal standing to lodge a case.
The five were the first of at least a dozen petitions filed to challenge the TNI Law revision, which the House of Representatives passed on March 20 and triggered large protests in Jakarta and other major cities.
The court's nine justices said the petitioners of the first five motions, students from universities including the University of Indonesia (UI) and Malang's Brawijaya University (UB), had failed to present sufficient evidence to demonstrate their legal standing. In their petition, the students said the legislative process lacked transparency and excluded public participation.
"The petitioners failed to show they had attempted to participate in the process, whether through public discussion or essays addressed to policymakers, for example," Justice Saldi Isra said on Thursday while reading out one of the court's rulings.
"Therefore, we concluded that the petitioners had no legal standing," he said. Morning Brief Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.
In its ruling on a separate petition, the bench said the six UB students who filed the motion failed to provide evidence they had participated in a series of demonstrations in Malang, as proof of their "active participation" in criticizing the TNI bill weeks before its passage.
The legislature, which is majority-controlled by political parties that support President Prabowo Subianto, passed the TNI Law revision in a rushed process in late March despite nationwide protests against the bill.
The new law raises the retirement age of active military officers, expands the number of state institutions where they can assume appointed positions without first retiring, and adds two new noncombat roles.
Since its passage, students and activists have filed legal challenges with the Constitutional Court out of fear that the new law would pave the way for the country's return to militarism akin to the autocratic New Order regime of Soeharto, as well as potential democratic backsliding.
In the coming weeks, the court is scheduled to hear at least nine other petitions, most of them also filed by university students.
A June 23 hearing has been scheduled for a petition filed by Inayah Wahid, a daughter of late president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, along with a coalition of civic groups advocating for security sector reform.
Most plaintiffs argue in their individual filings that legislation related to the TNI Law revision had been fast-tracked without sufficient public participation, and that key documents were released only after the law was passed.