Defense, foreign affairs, and intelligence Commission I at the House of Representatives (DPR) held a hearingwith Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Minister of Law and Human Rights Supratman Andi Agtas on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, discussing the Draft Law (RUU) on Amendments to Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Chairman of the House’s Commission I, Utut Adianto,said that the government had submitted a list of inventory of problems (DIM) related to the bill, as stated in Presidential Letter No: R-12/Pres/02/2025. The House has also heard inputs from experts, academics, Associations of Retired Indonesian Military and National Police Officers, as well as NGOs before starting the First level of discussion.

"The House of Representatives’ Commission I hearingwith the government today is held in the context of level I discussion regarding the bill deliberation," Utut said.

Utut added that within a day, the government will send the DIM of the TNI Bill to Commission I of the House. One of the main points in the DIM relates to the revision of Article 47 on the scope of TNI duties in civilian positions, Article 53 on the retirement age limit, and Article 3 on the position of the TNI.

Article 47 itself regulates the rules for soldiers who wish to occupy civilian positions. Paragraph 1 explains that soldiers can only occupy civilian positions after resigning or retiring from active military service. Meanwhile, paragraph 2 regulates what positions active soldiers may occupy, such as in the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political and State Security Affairs, the Presidential Military Secretariat, State Intelligence, and the Supreme Court.

However, the planned revision to Article 47 has drawnstrong criticism from the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform, which consists of various organizations such as Imparsial, YLBHI, KontraS, Amnesty International Indonesia, and LBH Jakarta.

They highlighted the proposed addition of a phrase to Article 47 paragraph 2 that allows active soldiers to occupy positions in "other ministries/institutions that require the manpower and expertise of active soldiers in accordance with the President's policy."

The Civil Society Coalition considers this proposal to be very dangerous because it expands the scope of civilian positions that can be filled by active TNI soldiers. Previously, the TNI Law only allowed the placement of active soldiers in 10 specific ministries and institutions. 

With this additional phrase, the opportunity for loose interpretation opens up, allowing the placement of active soldiers in various ministries or other institutions outside those previously regulated.

"The addition of this phrase is very dangerous because it expands the scope of civilian positions that can be filled by active TNI soldiers, which were previously limited to only 10 ministries and institutions as regulated in the TNI Law," the Civil Society Coalition said in a statement on Thursday, March 6, 2025.

They also consider that this revision risks eroding the principle of civilian supremacy in government, because it allows for broader involvement of active soldiers in the civil government structure.

Previously, the House Plenary Session had approved the Draft Law on Amendments to the TNI Law to be included in the 2025 Priority National Legislation Program (Prolegnas). The discussion of this Bill was based on the Letter of the President of the Republic of Indonesia No. R-12/Pres/02/2025 dated February 13, 2025, making it an initiative from the government.