section_path: History/Armed Forces Servicemen Law of 1988 (Law No. 2 of 1988)
section_name: Armed Forces Servicemen Law of 1988 (Law No. 2 of 1988)
paragraph_text: Armed Forces Servicemen Law of 1988 (Law No. 2 of 1988)
  
  The Armed Forces Servicemen Law, officially the Law No. 2 of 1988 on the Soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia, was the predecessor to the current armed forces law. The law repealed a number of armed forces laws enacted in the 1950s and was intended to set the guidelines for the armed forces and its branches, including the police, and established the Total People’s Defense and Security System (Sishankamrata, Sistem Pertahanan dan Keamanan Rakyat Semesta). The law also codified the Dwifungsi doctrine, the armed forces' dual function as a defense force as well as a dominating force in social and political affairs.
  
  The law had already been proposed as early as 1985. It was not until two years later that the bill was intensively discussed by the armed forces at the Armed Forces’ Leadership Annual Conference, which was held from 21 to 23 October 1987. The armed forces commander, L. B. Moerdani, stated that the law was a direct continuation of the Law No. 20 of 1982 on Defense and Security Principles. The draft law proposed in the conference included a detailed elaboration on Sishankamrata as well as increasing the retirement age of flag officers from 55 to 60 years, which was based on the increase in the quality of life and followed the examples of Thailand and the United States. Moerdani himself proposed the bill to be enacted on 19 December that year, in time for the 39th anniversary of the Second Dutch military offensive and the inauguration of the armed forces new headquarters in Cilangkap. However, the deadline was scrapped due to time constraints, with the bill’s special committee chairman A. A. Baramuli describing the deadline as impossible to fulfill.
  
  The bill was officially proposed through a presidential letter on 11 November 1987, with Presiden Suharto appointing Minister of Defence and Security Poniman as his representative in hearings and meetings with the legislative. Although the president only proposed a single bill, the Golkar faction in the House of Representative argued that the bill required the amendment of several provisions on mandatory military service and armed forces recruitment in Law No. 20 of 1982. Golkar proposed an additional bill on the amendment of Law No. 20 of 1982 shortly afterwards, regarding the recruitment of trained civilians (ratih, rakyat terlatih) between Golkar and the armed forces faction.
  
  Hearings on the two bills were described as heated, with the entire process taking about five months. After the bill was submitted, the first hearing was held on 23 November 1987, with house deputy chair Saiful Sulun as chairperson. The main agenda of the meeting was to hear the government’s explanation on each bill, delivered by Minister of Defence and Security Poniman. The second hearing on the stance of each faction in the House of Representatives was held on 2 December, which was followed by the government's response in an open session eight days later. The house’s deliberative body decided to establish a special committee to handle the two bills, with the four factions inside the house of representatives nominating their candidates for the special committee a day later.
  
  The special committee was established on 12 December with 30 permanent members (17 from Golkar, 6 from the armed forces, 4 from the United Development Party, and 3 from the Indonesian Democratic Party) and 17 alternate members (9 from Golkar, 3 from the armed forces, 3 from the United Development Party, and 2 from the Indonesian Democratic Party). The special committee was chaired by former governor A. A. Baramuli, with former national police deputy chief Sabar Kumbino, air vice marshal Joni Herlaut Sumardjono, cleric Imron Rosyadi, and independence veteran Ipik Asmasoebrata as deputy chairmen. From 8 January to 19 February, the special committee held meetings with representatives from the Department of Defence and Security. During the course of the meetings, a total of 228 proposals were discussed from the four factions, with the most—80 proposals—coming from the Golkar faction.
  
  In the final session of the special committee, the Golkar faction spokesperson Anak Agung Oka Mahendra softly criticized the nature of the meetings by quoting a Javanese proverb that refers to a lack of deliberation. One of the officials who was involved in the bill also criticized the lack of understanding of the bill’s philosophical nature by the members of the special committee, which resulted in tensions and heated debates. Eventually, the bill was passed in a plenary session of the House of Representatives on 22 February 1988, with all 398 members—out of 499—who attended the session unanimously approving the bill. The bill was signed into law on 1 March, in commemoration of the 39th anniversary of the General Offensive of 1 March 1949.