Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Several analysts say that the national security bill currently under deliberation by the lawmakers is unclear, substantial Constitutional and legal violations and needs revision.

"If the bill is meant to be an umbrella law for the military and police laws, it will be ineffective because the Indonesian Military [TNI] and the police have their own jurisdictions," national security expert Arry Bainus told a hearing of House Commission I on overseeing defense, information and foreign affairs on Monday.

"Almost every chapter in the bill is open to multiple interpretations," Arry, a professor at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said.

Arry also criticized the bill for calling for the creation of regional security commands that would involve governors, regents and mayors. "This is against the 2004 Regional Autonomy Law, which gives the central government full authority over the defense, security, foreign, fiscal and judicial matters."

Hermawan Sulistyo of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that he suspected the bill was intended at resurrecting the provincial (kopkamtibda) and regional (laksusda) security and defense commands that were reviled under the New Order regime of former president Soeharto.

Hermawan wanted the government to retract, revise and resubmit the bill to the House. "We support you in returning the bill for a total review," Hermawan said.

The lawmaker who presided over the hearing, Agus Gumiwang of the Golkar Party, said that the commission would likely ask House leaders to return the bill as it has met increasing resistance from lawmakers.

Another lawmaker, Sidharto Danusubroto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said his party has long urged the House to return the bill to the government for a total overhaul including the involvement of stakeholders outside the Defense Ministry.

Sidharto said that the bill went beyond Article 30 of the Constitution, which requires all citizens to take part in the defense of the state.

Hermawan and Sidharto agreed that the bill should not use the word perbantuan (help or enforcement) to define the TNI's role in domestic security, including terrorism.

The analysts said that the TNI should instead be "engaged" in domestic security to avoid misconceptions that the military was subordinate to the police.

Arry also criticized the wide scope of the bill. "The bill takes over all the authority of the military, the police and the National Intelligence Agency [BIN]."

On the involvement of the nation's spy agencies in national security, Sidharto said that the BIN had a role as information seeker and not as an investigator. "According to the 2011 Intelligence Law, BIN has no longer investigative authority," Sidharto said.

Lawmakers on the Commission agreed that the bill would likely be returned to the government after it obtained input from Commission II overseeing home affairs and regional government and Commission III overseeing legal affairs.