House prefers delay, distracted by elections

House factions have argued that delaying the passage of the controversial State Secrecy Bill for now may be the best option with the elections approaching and disagreements over the content of the law mounting.
The bill outlines what information or subjects will be deemed of a secretive nature, such as details of national weaponry and preparations in times of war. "The government insists on finishing the law before the standing session ends. However, that will be a difficult task,"

Andreas Pareira, a House member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) told The Jakarta Post Monday.

Andreas said the upcoming legislative elections were beginning to divert lawmakers' attention from the bill, and that some of those working on it may not actually be re-elected in this years' polls.
"Even if the House manages to finish their deliberations in time, the result will probably be poor," he said.

Yuddy Chrisnandi, a House member from the Golkar party, said the bill should not be forced into law at the moment because there were too many corruption cases surfacing. He said if the bill was passed in its current form, it could ultimately provide loopholes for those wishing to cite confidentiality as a cover their crimes.
"I'd prefer to delay the completion until 2010, when new lawmakers can tackle this matter head on," he said.

Yuddy said he would rather push for the Freedom of Information Law to be completed before turning attention to the State Secrecy Bill.

Legislators passed the Freedom of Information Bill into law last Thursday and it is expected to take effect next year.
Djoko Susilo, a House member from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the State Secrecy Bill tends to negate the Freedom of Information Law, and placed too much power into the hands of the government.

Mu'tamimul Ulah, a House member from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said determining what exactly will be classified under the law is currently the most debated aspect of the Bill.

"The classification of what is *classified' should be discussed thoroughly, because differing interpretations might lead to the State becoming a closed regime lacking transparency," Mu'tamimul said.

The bill outlines three areas of classified subjects, they being information, facilities or mediums and activities.
"What if there was a hearing on classified matters at the House?" Andreas said. "A journalist reporting from that hearing could be charged with divulging state secrets because the House may confuse this activity as in fact technically being *secret' information."

He said the bill also opened up opportunities for corruption and could assist people with vested interests.

thejakartapost.com, , 03 Februari 2009