Criticism and Suggestions from Civil Society

According to Isnur, if President Jokowi still sends a surpres approving the discussion of the two bills, the public deserves to question President Jokowi's commitment to democracy and human rights protection. "This will damage the achievements of post-reform democracy and become a bad legacy from Mr. Jokowi at the end of his term," he said.

The proposed revision of the TNI Law and the Polri Law, which was agreed upon as a DPR initiative bill, has received criticism. Among them are 23 organizations that are members of the Civil Society Coalition for Police Reform. This coalition strongly rejects the Polri Bill and the TNI Bill because the substance is considered to deviate from the principles of the rule of law and democracy aspired to after the reform.

Dean of the Faculty of Law, Brawijaya University Malang, Aan Eko Widiarto, stated that there are two options for President Jokowi to follow up on the rejection from civil society. First, the President does not need to issue a surpres. Second, if the surpres is still issued, the government must firmly remove articles that are considered to weaken democracy. If the DPR still includes problematic articles, the government can refuse to discuss them further.

"President Jokowi can argue that there will be a new president in October. Instead of leaving a fragile foundation of democracy, it is better to wait for the new president to discuss it. These two bills are very fundamental, concerning state instruments that have defense equipment, so they must be discussed in a stable period, not in a transitional period," he said.