Jakarta – Lawmakers are calling for the government to replace the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief, citing poor performance and a perceived unwillingness to take responsibility for intelligence miscues.
"There are a lot of things the BIN chief cannot explain when he reports to House of Representatives Commission I overseeing foreign, military, information and communications affairs," Dedy Djamaluddin Malik of the National Mandate Party said Monday on the sidelines of a closed-door meeting with BIN officials.
"He also cannot provide objective evidence and accurate figures to support his reports. We don't need regular information," he added.
BIN chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir Siregar, according to Dedy, only reports on things like regional elections in Aceh. He said Syamsir failed to touch on issues such as possible military maneuvers by Malaysia or sand exports to Singapore, both of which require intelligence reports. Golkar Party legislator Hajriyanto Y. Thohari said the agency should function as "an early detector for occurrences in the country".
"Syamsir should be able to detect conflicts early, like the bloody clashes in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and the movements of Papuan separatists overseas.
"Particularly in the case of Papua separatism, BIN has 16 representatives posted abroad, including in the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom, but BIN still seems inept," he said.
Several lawmakers also questioned Syamsir's commitment to the agency. Theo Syafei, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said: "Syamsir once said he would only hold his post until October 2006, but he is still there."
Syamsir replaced A.M. Hendropriyono as head of the agency in October 2004 for a five-year term. Theo and other lawmakers said they would recommend that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono replace Syamsir.
"Several legislators, including Effendy Choirie of the People's Awakening Party, Golkar Party's Hajriyanto and myself have agreed to convey this issue to Commission I," Dedy said.
A number of lawmakers said BIN deputy chief As'ad Said Ali was the best candidate to replace Syamsir. "As'ad has worked for BIN since he was in university. He knows every nook and cranny of BIN and he already has good international networks," Effendy said.
However, some lawmakers, including Permadi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said it was difficult to evaluate the performance of an agency like BIN that did much of its work in secrecy.