"The House of Representatives is ready to revise the terrorism law in a bid to safeguard the people," House Speaker Ade Komaruddin stated.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The House of Representatives (DPR) has expressed its readiness to revise Law No. 9 of 2013 on the prevention and eradication of terrorism in the fourth session of the 2015-2016 period.

"The House of Representatives is ready to revise the terrorism law in a bid to safeguard the people," House Speaker Ade Komaruddin stated here on Friday.

Since the onset, the House has conveyed its decision to President Joko Widodo during a consultation meeting of state institutions on Tuesday (Jan. 19) concerning the terrorism act, he noted.

Komaruddin remarked that the DPR expressed readiness to revise the law if the president issued a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu).

The revision was expected to offer security to the community by improving the law.

The terrorism act was listed in the 2016 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

Earlier, Chairman of Commission I of the House of Representatives Mahfudz Sidik had urged the government to evaluate the performance of its officials in ministries and agencies with regard to combating terrorism.

"Prior to the revision of Law No. 9 of 2013 on the prevention and eradication of terrorism, the government should evaluate counterterrorism measures and the implementation of the law to fight terrorism," Sidik emphasized here on Wednesday.

Sidik affirmed that the government should conduct an evaluation to assess the performance of institutions in carrying out their duties in battling terrorism.

"If the government finds weaknesses in the implementation process, then corrective steps should be taken. If there are rules that hinder the agencies from carrying out their duties, then the government should revise the terrorism law," he stated.

The terrorism law explains in detail that every citizen residing abroad but convicted for carrying out acts of terrorism may be subject to prosecution under the criminal laws in Indonesia.

"If Indonesian citizens residing abroad are convicted of acts of terrorism, then they can be prosecuted under criminal laws," he noted.

The lawmaker remarked that Indonesian citizens, who joined ISIS, could be subjected to the terrorism law and be charged with crimes.

He affirmed that the revision of the terrorism law might not solve the real problems.

As for the revision, he suggested two ways, with the first being the governments proposal to include it in the 2016 Prolegnas, while according to the second approach, President Widodo could issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu), if the head of state deemed the situation to be of national interest.

However, the president should put forth a regulation to be passed into law during the House session.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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