On Feb. 20, retired police officers, including former police chiefs, met at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Jakarta, to show their rejection of the National Security Bill. Their reason was that the bill undermined police authority as the enforcers of law, security and order. They concluded that the bill would place the police under military control.
In 2006, the old bill drew out controversies between chiefs of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police. Given this, the president decided to withdraw it. The police then refused to be placed under a ministry, and the two institutions shared different views on definitions of “security” and “authority” in response to security threats.