Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Outspoken legislators from the major political parties are criticizing the state secrecy bill, which they say has been deliberately made to hide corrupt government officials from public scrutiny.
Despite the criticism, no factions in the House of Representatives have voiced their formal objection to the controversial bill, which looks set to be passed quickly into law.
Yuddy Chrisnandi of the Golkar Party said the bill was unnecessary. The bill was open to abuse because it did not detail what state secrets were, he said.
"The bill gives no clear definition of state secrets, which allows for different interpretations. It would be very dangerous to... democracy because its enforcement will depend on the power-holders, and government officials could declare anything a state secret," he told The Jakarta Post here Wednesday.
Neither did Indonesia need a state secrecy council as mandated by the draft law, Yuddy said.
Under the bill, the council would be chaired by the defense minister. Members would include the home minister, the military and police chiefs, the attorney general, and the justice and information ministers.
The bill defines state secrets as all security, defense and intelligence matters related to the state.
Djoko Susilo of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said secrets in the bill should be defined in more detail. "Like the State Secrets Act in the United States, the bill should contain only certain detailed matters that cannot be exposed to the public for the sake of state security," he said.
Sabam Sirait and Andrean Pareira, lawmakers from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said the bill would bar public access to necessary information on new developments and irregularities in the defense, security and intelligence sectors.
"The bill makes civil society powerless, kills democracy and drags the nation back to past repressive regimes. We must not stop any group from getting information," Sabam said.
The critical legislators, many of whom were members of the House Commission I on defense, vowed the commission would prioritize the ongoing deliberation of a bill on the freedom of information. That bill requires government and state officials to disclose all documents and correspondence in the public interest.
Pareira suggested the state secrecy bill be dropped and all state secrets inserted into a separate chapter in the bill on public information. The freedom of information bill is scheduled to be passed by the House by the end of the year.
Sabam and Effendy Choirie of the National Awakening Party said the party was conducting an in-depth study of the secrecy bill and wanted suggestions from the public before its deliberation with the government.